The Wizard Son of Sparda: Year Five
by Gimlifan8
Summary: Dante, the fifteen year old wizard son of Sparda, is living with his grandfather, Aberforth Dumbledore. But when disaster strikes, can Dante save the wizardring world from an unknown but potentially catastrophic threat? Year five. NO ROMANCE! NO DmC! Rated T for safety.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! So I'm back after... it's been what, three years? I'm sorry it took me so long to get to writing the sequel. I've started a while ago, actually, but I kept thinking that I might post a few chapters and then will hit a writer's block, and the story will never be finished. But I've nearly finished it, so I thought it's safe to upload the prologue now. For those of you who haven't read The Wizard Son of Sparda, this fic might confuse you a little, but you should still be able to make sense of it. Updates should be in every two weeks!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or DMC. Or even DmC, though I'm glad I don't.**

 **On to the story!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

In a darkened room, beside a steadily declining candle, a figure lay slumped on a chair. A pool of blood glittered on the floor under him, increasing rapidly as more drops fell. The source was a bloody stump where his right hand should have been.

Drip, drip, drip.

A second figure stood before him, holding something that was long, thin and strangely knotted. He turned it gently, running a finger down its length, watching the bright flames reflected on it.

Abruptly, he pivoted on his feet, inhumanly graceful in his movement as he strode towards the door. The withering flame from the fireplace illuminated his face as he passed by. It was the face of a boy in his mid-teens, exceptionally handsome, with silver-white hair that gleamed in the light.

"Do you really believe this wise, my boy?"

The figure on the chair had lifted his head, and warm, if pained, blue eyes regarded the other with disappointment and not a little sadness.

The boy paused at the doorway. "You are not worthy of this wand, Albus Dumbledore." he said. He smiled then, a ferocious look in his eyes. "In my hand, it will finally fulfill its purpose and become what it has always longed to be."

He turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the silence as he descended the stairs. Dumbledore gazed after him long after he had gone.

"Good-bye, then, Vergil, and good luck." he said softly, wearily. "May you find a way to satisfy your own longing, someday."

* * *

 **So what do you all think?**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I know I said two weeks before the next chapter, but I'm sure you don't mind that it's a little early, right?**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"What. The. F-"

"Language!" Snape snapped at his former student.

Dante Sparda, Dumbledore on his mother's side, was taking down his sword, Rebellion, from its place on the wall. He slung it over the back of his red coat. Grabbing his guns from his desk, which Snape eyed with disdain and distrust, he said, "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Leave the weapons, Dante." Aberforth Dumbledore said from the doorway. "Vergil isn't hanging around waiting for you so he can ambush you."

"Listen, gramps, if I ever manage to escape your grumpy self and actually find a date, I'll bring these babes there too, so you're just wasting your breath. Besides," he grinned sadistically, "I'm not planning on coming home before letting off some steam."

"When you're quite done blabbering..?" Snape drawled, quite unnecessarily. Dante had already scooped up floo powder from the bowl and thrown it into the grate. He stepped into the fireplace.

"Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!" he said clearly, and was enveloped in a swirl of green flames.

When he stepped out, he found his great-uncle stretched out on a chair, looking quite exhausted. Nevertheless, he gave Dante a small smile.

"My apologies for the late hour, Dante. I wish the reasons were more pleasant."

"This is late? For you old farts, maybe. My night's only beginning!" Dante said lightly. His eyes darkened forebodingly as he glanced at the bloodstain on the desk next to Dumbledore's newly conjured hand.

"Severus." Dumbledore said abruptly, looking behind Dante where the man had just stepped out of the fireplace. "It is quite late, and you must be tired after tending to this old man. I cannot possibly keep you any longer."

Snape's eyes flashed with anger. "If it is all the same to you..." he began.

"I insist, Severus." Dumbledore's tone was firm.

Looking furious as he looked to both of them, Snape turned sharply on his heels and left the room in a swirl of black robes.

"So," said Dante, "What's the big secret? Is Vergil starting a wand shop?"

Dumbledore looked grave. "No. I fear his intentions are far more diabolical in nature."

"Ooh, suspense." Dante yawned. "Get to the point, will you?"

The other wizard looked almost irritated for a moment. Dante smirked in victory.

"My wand," said Dumbledore, "Or rather, what used to be mine, is called the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in known existence. It is rumoured that it was created by Death itself, and that the wand makes its owner unbeatable in a duel."

"Hold up. When you say 'duel'..."

"Magical duel, and not necessarily between two persons, yes. But the wand's allegiance is fickle, Dante. Its history is long and bloody. Time and again, its owners have been defeated and murdered by the next possessor. Strangely, it does not seem to have a definitive requirement for changing owners."

"Who'd you get it from, then?"

"Gellert Grindelwald."

"I'm pretty sure I heard that you beat him fair and square?"

"Yes, indeed, I can merely speculate on why it is that he could not defeat me. The most obvious and reasonable explanation, of course, is that the wand was actually man-made, happens to be the strongest wand in existence, and yet, not unbeatable."

"And? Vergil cares... because? I don't know about you, but I've never seen a demon fight with wands."

"My explanations are each as likely as the next, my boy. But we must act on the possibility that any of them might be true."

"You're not actually going to tell me all of them, are you?" Dante stifled another yawn.

"No." said Dumbledore. "All I ask is that you keep an eye on Harry for me."

"Vergil's going to attack... Harry?" Dante straightened, eyes wide and alert. "Why didn't anyone tell me Vergil 2.0 is on the market? I didn't even know they left that 'honour' feature out this time!"

"I realize it seems uncharacteristic, but I have a very good reason to believe Harry may be in danger from Vergil." Dumbledore said with unflinching calm. "So I would be much obliged, Dante, if you would retrieve him from his place of residence and take him to Number 12, Grimmauld Place."

Dante stepped forward and took the piece of paper Dumbledore offered him. "Huh. I'm gonna need a car."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "Consider it your birthday present." he glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 1:30. "Happy birthday, my boy."

So many emotions played across the teenager's face that it was nearly impossible to distinguish them all. He looked away, towards Dumbledore's arm. His gaze followed the dried blood trail to the large stain on the carpet and remained there for a long time.

When he finally looked up, his playful expression was gone altogether. His jaw was set, teeth clenched, eyes blazing in anger.

"I hope I run into Vergil." he said, hands balled into fists at his sides. "He thinks he's the only one who knows how to throw a birthday party? We're twins, after all!"

* * *

The red convertible glided smoothly down the street. Dante watched the neat little houses pass by with somewhat surprised eyes. It was strange to think Harry Potter lived in such an orderly place.

A sudden commotion erupted about a hundred meters in front of him. Dante slammed on the brake, the back wheels almost flying off the road. He placed one hand on the side door and vaulted out, then strolled forward with a quite unhurried pace. Only his too-cold eyes betrayed the tension he felt.

The reason for the noise appeared to be five teenagers about his own age. They were standing in a circle, and the smaller form in the center was almost completely hidden. But his voice was clear, high and trembling.

"Let me go! I'll tell Mum, don't think I won't!"

"Ooh, poor baby wants his mama!" exclaimed one of the teenagers.

"Man up, kid!" said teenager no. 2, laughing.

"Don't you tell me to man up! You-you're the ones ganging up on me! "

"Big D?" snarled a fat boy- Teenager no. 3. "Think it's time to show the little brat who's boss here!"

'Big D' seemed to be the ringleader, a burly teenager standing right in front of the younger boy, his back to Dante. He grunted at the other boy's words, and drew back his fist in a lightning fast motion.

Dante was faster.

The boy gasped as his wrist was caught in an iron grip, not hurting but unyielding. Dante smiled at him.

"Word of advice," he said. "When a little kid is smartmouthing you and you've got nothing to say, better start working on your conversation skills!"

The rest of the gang looked from him to Big D and back again. They seemed uncertain and a little scared.

"Get off our turf, you moron." Big D snarled, struggling to free his hand. "Just because you're not from around here, don't think we'll let you off easy!"

"Is that right?" Dante let go of the boy's hand so abruptly he stumbled back a few paces. "Well, that's reassuring! I was starting to think ten-years-olds are your max achievement!"

"Big D won the junior boxing championship last year!" snapped teenager 4.

"A boxing champ?" Dante grinned at the boy leader, who was starting to look apprehensive. "This is getting better and better!" he beckoned the boy with one gloved hand. "C'mon then, kid! Give it your best shot!"

"Don't you call me kid!"

Behind the gang, the small boy was cautiously edging away.

"How about I make you a deal? You stop fighting little kids, and I'll stop thinking you're one yourself!" Dante tapped his foot. "Your lackeys are welcome to join, by the way. Come on, wimp!"

Big D was starting to look quite scared now. His gang clustered around him, appearing nonplussed.

Dante snorted derisively. "What's wrong, then? That all you got? Or just taking the 'stick together' thing a bit too literally?"

The ringleader snarled and charged. He aimed a punch at Dante's face.

Dante simply raised a palm in the way of his fist.

 **THUD!**

Big D recoiled, gasping in pain, staring at his bruised knuckles. "H-how..."

Dante raised his own hand to his eyes and studied it with a casual interest. It was as undamaged as ever, but for a small imprint of dust in his shining black glove. "Heh." he dusted it off. "Guess boxing is a little overrated, kid. Anyone else?"

The others stepped back. They looked to Big D for directions.

"Come on." muttered the boy, and a moment later they had all got on their bikes and was disappearing down the road.

Dante chuckled softly. "Punks." he said under his breath. "You can come out now!" he said more loudly.

The little kid that the five had been terrorizing stepped out from behind a bush. "Thank you." he mumbled.

"Don't sweat it, kid. Nothing personal." Dante clapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"My name's Mark." The boy informed him.

"Well, Mark, it's been a pleasure. Though next time, don't mouth off to people unless you can take what they throw at you."

The kid looked ready to rebel, but eventually decided against it. Dante grinned lopsidedly. "See? You're learning already."

He was halfway to his car when something occurred to him. "By the way," he turned back, "Which way's Privet Drive? I'm going to number 4."

Mark looked at him with wide eyes. "But that's where Dursley lives!"

"And?"

"Then why'd you just scare him off if you're going to his house?"

Dante blinked. "That's...Harry's cousin. Big D."

"Harry Potter? The hooligan?"

Dante exploded into laughter. "Hooligan?" he gasped. "What'd he do to earn that title?"

"Well, everyone knows it, don't they?" Mark said cautiously. "He's going to that school for incurably criminal boys... everyone knows to steer clear of him. Why're you looking for him?"

"He's got a price on his head." Dante said, still chortling. "Not worth it, if you ask me. Most criminal thing he's ever done is aiding and abetting a known murderer-"

Mark gulped.

"Who turned out to be innocent." Dante finished. "He'd make a terrible criminal. Trust me, I'd know."

Mark backed up a few paces. Dante shook his head as he opened his car door.

"Kid, listen, Harry's dangerous. But there are all kinds of dangerous. You've just had a brush with the wrong kind, I'd have thought you'd recognize the right kind when you see it." He started the engine. "Adios, kid."

With that he was gone, speeding down the street, leaving Mark gaping after him.

* * *

Dante didn't have to enter the house. He found Harry Potter sitting morosely on his relatives' freshly-mowed lawn, looking outrageously out of place in his baggy discolored shirt and torn jeans.

Seeing the slick car made Harry scowl. He got up and headed in the opposite direction down the street. Dante blared the horn.

It got Harry's attention as well as his relatives. Harry turned sharply, his entire demeanor changing as he took in the driver behind the wheel.

"What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, hurrying over.

"Uncle Albus said to pick you up." Dante opened the passenger side of the car door. "Hop in."

"Hang on, I've got to get my trunk-" Harry muttered, looking at the horse-like face of his aunt peering out of her window. A second later, the shutters closed.

"Go on, then." Dante slouched back in his seat. "As fast as you can."

"That's a given." Harry said darkly as he jogged off.

* * *

 _Harry's POV:_

Uncle Vernon was all too happy to get Harry out of his house for the summer. "That boy one of you freaks?" he asked, peering out of the window. "Didn't you tell him where to park cars?"

"You've got the garage closed." snapped Harry, balancing Hedwig, his owl's, cage on his arm as he opened the cupboard. "But we can blast it open, sure, just say the word."

"Don't you threaten me, boy! We know you students aren't allowed!"

"He's not a student." Harry said with a nasty smile. "And the Ministry track magic, not muggle stuff. You know, like swords, and automatic guns..."

Uncle Vernon turned a strange shade of purple. "You...Dare..."

"Dad, just let him go."

Harry and his uncle both stared at Dudley with wide eyes.

"Son?" asked Uncle Vernon, bewildered.

"I've seen him on the street." said Dudley. "That guy out there. He's- he's even more freakish than Harry."

"Seen him, have you?" Harry asked innocently. "He's not the 'wall' you bruised your fist on, by any chance?"

"Shut up." Dudley said tersely. "Just get your things and get out."

"With pleasure, ickle Diddykins." Harry dragged his trunk out, kicked the cupboard shut, and set off with Hedwig's empty cage balanced on the trunk. Aunt Petunia tossed him a black piece of cloth.

"Cover that." she ordered.

Harry frowned. "Who cares if an empty cage is-"

"You heard your aunt, BOY!"

* * *

"Charming, aren't they?" Dante said to Harry when he had reached the car.

"As charming as cornish pixies." Harry said dryly as he stowed his luggage in the car's trunk. "So what's going on with Voldemort? There's nothing on the news and all Ron and Hermione can tell me is that they can't tell me anything-"

"Hey, don't ask me," Dante raised both hands as Harry came around to the passenger seat. "I just got back day before yesterday- there was a big party in the USA that I had to attend." he turned on the ignition. "Took me the better part of the summer to see off all the guests."

Harry settled on his seat, feeling sullen again. Then his head nearly smacked the windshield as the car shot off. Hurriedly, he buckled in. He'd never seen anyone drive a car this crazily.

"You'll get pulled over." he gasped as Dante swerved around a truck that looked like it could crush them and amble right over the wreckage.

"Notice-me-not charm for muggles." Dante informed him, grinning manically. Harry didn't find it funny at all. It reminded him too much of the Knight bus.

"So," he had to shout to be heard over the whipping wind, "Where are we going then?"

"Let's just say, you'll like the company there!" Dante yelled back. He was still accelerating. Any faster, Harry thought, and the car would take to the air, which now that he thought of it wasn't unlikely.

"The Burrow?"

"Nah, that's empty. Everyone's shifted to-" Dante handed Harry the piece of paper Dumbledore had given him. "This place."

Harry took the paper and scanned it. "What's that mean?"

"That's the organization working against uncle Tom. Uncle Albus is leading it. But don't get your hopes up, he's not gonna be there."

"Is that where Ron and Hermione is?"

"Yeah. They can tell you some stuff, I suppose. But don't expect too much- anyone who's not in the Order is on a strictly need-to-know basis."

"And Dumbledore doesn't think I need to know?"

"I'm really not the right person to ask." Dante gave a careless shrug. "So how about you sit back and enjoy the ride?"

Harry very much doubted he could; putting aside the fact that the ride resembled a death trap, there was far too much on his mind- anger at Dumbledore for treating him like a child, annoyance at Dante for not even caring that they were being pushed to the sidelines-

WHAM!

The car had sped over a roadblock and was airborne. As Harry seized the dashboard, the front of the car tilted upwards, and then they were rising towards the clouds, cutting an almost vertical path towards the sky, the wind roaring in his ears.

"Cool trick, huh?" Dante was grinning at him, looking far too amused.

But Harry couldn't disagree, and as the car made its way in and out of clouds, he unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up. The fluffy clouds sprinkled him with small drops of water as they passed, their touch feather-light. In some places the clouds were completely absent, and then he could see the green fields and hills and sometimes small towns that they were passing. Dante proved to be rather less talkative now that the essentials had been spoken, and mostly drove in silence.

Harry found that he didn't really mind. If Dante had nothing informative to say, then it was better he said nothing at all. Harry wasn't quite ready yet to hear him bragging about his exploits in America. Which, to be fair, Dante only ever did lightly and never with any actual haughtiness, but even that would have been hard to stand.

Afternoon changed into dusk and twilight, then darkness fell. Harry shook with the cold; it was close to freezing temperature. Dante glanced at him once, but said nothing.

Now the silence was getting a bit ridiculous, Harry thought with not a little annoyance. There was nothing to see outside – and there seemed to be no end in sight to their journey. He sighed, and watched his breath fog the glass in front of him. The darkness and the cold seemed to nag at some unpleasant memory in his mind. He sought to grasp it, but it kept slipping out. He breathed out softly again, and touched his finger against the fog-

"Dementors!"

Dante turned to him. "What?"

Harry could have kicked himself for taking so long to understand. It all fit – the coldness, it was unnatural. The darkness was unnatural. This bleakness that had settled over him, even that…

"There must be dementors around!" he said urgently. "Can you do the Patronus Charm?"

Dante shook his head. "Who cares? Let's see how they fare against Rebellion-"

"Don't think that'll work- wait, no, hang on-"

Harry fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his wand. Everything was getting jumbled up inside his head. Far away he could now hear it, hear his mother screaming again- Not Harry, Please not Harry- he desperately tried to keep a hold on his emotions, but this was impossible – he couldn't even see the Dementors this time!

"Expect –"

A sudden turn of the car made his stomach jump, and before he could tighten his grip, his wand had slipped out of his hand. Harry leaned down, over the car door, and seized it right out of the air. He grasped the side of the car to pull himself up.

Something like a claw clamped over his hand, and the dull, faraway voice of Voldemort had suddenly risen to a roar inside his head.

 _Stand aside, you silly girl! Stand aside now!_

 _Please, not Harry! I'll do anything, have mercy- have mercy- kill me instead of him-_

And the voice was suddenly gone, faded, leaving the echoes of the past etched into his brain.

Air was whooshing past him, the sensation of falling, falling, falling –

His descent stopped abruptly. Harry waited for the crunch, the pain, the loss of consciousness, but none was forthcoming. Instead, he was… rising?

"Sorry." Dante's voice was just beside his ear. "Shouldn't have swerved like that. Didn't notice you weren't buckled in – I'm not really used to having passengers."

Was he being carried? Harry opened his eyes sharply, but he wasn't – not really – he was sitting on his seat on the red convertible, Dante smiling at him ruefully from the driving seat. He must have driven his car straight down and caught him.

"Where's the dementors?"

"Gone. Told you Rebellion would do the job."

Harry looked around, but he didn't really need to. The unnatural chill was gone.

"So… they show people their worst memory, huh?"

Harry nodded without meeting Dante's gaze. He was sure that he was red from the neckline to the roots of his hair – he hadn't lost consciousness after meeting a dementor since third year.

"Talk about self-reflection." Dante muttered quietly, and Harry then noticed that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly he was in danger of breaking it. Dante looked up, met his gaze, and sheepishly relaxed his grip.

"That's the last thing we need right now." he joked, then his face oddly clenched and he looked away.

"I can still hear her." Harry choked.

Dante swallowed audibly. "Yeah, me too."

* * *

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 **AnotherGuest: Yes, I'm interpreting it in my own way. I hope you'll like it when it's finally revealed!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So many follows and favorites! Thank you to each and every one of you who have followed and favorited!**

 **Without furthur ado, on to the story! And there's an important information in this chapter, but it's of the 'blink and you'll miss it' variety.**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

 **Chapter 2**

"Harry! Tony!"

Dante smoothly side-stepped the incoming flurry of bushy hair. Hermione only got her arms around Harry, who she gripped tightly and started babbling.

"Let him breathe, Hermione." said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind them.

Hedwig flew from her perch over one of the closets and landed on Harry. Ron showed Dante the marks the owl's sharp beak had left on his hands. "Pecked us half to death, she has-"

"About that," said Hermione, finally letting go of Harry, "How's Chaos?"

"She's fine." Dante said, shrugging. "She loves going out again – it's been hell for her not being able to stretch her wings."

"Suppose you can't really control hawks in muggle cities." said Ron. "Not that wizards love it, mind you, but I guess she's civilized enough."

"Don't let her hear you say that." Dante grinned. "She'd have given me loads of scars if I hadn't been- you know."

"You're staying for now, right?" said Hermione. "I mean, there hasn't been any report of more demon infestations?"

"Nah, I'm good till next Order meeting at least. Then Uncle Albus will probably stick me with some more tasks. Well, as long as he's giving me free all-you-can-eat sundaes, I'm not complaining."

"So," said Harry, and Dante looked back at him. He looked kind of stony. "Dumbledore – has he said anything? About why he wanted you to get me here?"

Dante had noticed Harry looking kind of gloom and had a feeling the volcano was going to erupt sooner rather than later.

"He thinks you could've been attacked." he said.

"But Dumbledore already had Order members guarding Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. Then she wilted as Harry's glare turned on her full force.

"Did he?" he said. "Didn't bother to inform me though, did he? So that I could ask them for help if I, you know, ever been attacked by – I don't know, Lord Voldemort?"

Hermione winced and looked at Dante desperately, who held up his hands. "Hey, don't look at me." he said, but to his mild dismay, Harry was looking at him as well.

"Who am I in danger from now, then? Demons? I suppose that's classified too?"

"I guess the whole thing isn't my story to tell, but," Dante added as Harry clenched his fists, "I can tell you that the old fart thought my idiot brother could attack you."

Hermione gasped; Ron's mouth dropped open and Harry was stunned into silence.

"Why?" he asked finally.

"I don't know." Dante said nonchalantly. "Really." he added to their matching disbelieving looks.

"Did you- er, bother to ask?" Harry said with forced calm.

"Nope." Dante admitted.

"You're bloody unbelievable, mate." Ron said, and he looked like he couldn't decide whether to be furious or impressed.

"Uncle Albus's the mastermind, thinking's his job." Dante said. "Acting's mine, so that's what I did. Besides, I was kind of furious, so my plans wouldn't have gone over well."

"Why?" Harry said again.

"Like I said, not my story to tell."

"Right." Harry said darkly, looking anywhere but at him. "Right…"

"If it's any consolation, I think you have every right to know why Vergil would attack you." Dante said. "Ask Uncle Albus when he gets here. Now If you don't mind-" Dante stretched over Ron's bed. "I think I'll just get some sleep."

Ron shoved him off. "Oy!"

"What?" Dante sat up on the floor, a sore look on his face. "You want me to sleep in the hallway? What kind of host are you?"

"The kind that worked for seven hours straight getting rid of pixie infestation!" Ron snapped. "That's all we're good for in this house- it's true, Harry! – Mum thinks cleaning the Order Headquarters is all we can do to help."

Hermione nodded earnestly. "But we'll tell you all we've found out, Harry. Fred and George got us some Extendable Ears – we attach them to the door when a meeting's going on and we hear bits and pieces."

"Go on, then." Harry said moodily.

Dante transfigured the chair by Ron's desk into a bed, a pillow into a mattress and the pillow cover into a bedsheet. Then he lay down with his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, listening to Ron and Hermione filling Harry in. It wasn't long before his eyes started to droop, and he fell asleep midway in between Ron's explanation of Percy's betrayal of his family.

* * *

"Tony! Get up!"

Only two people still called him by that name, and only one of them was female.

"Go away, Hermione." Dante said without opening his eyes.

"Mrs. Weasley says to get downstairs for dinner." she said briskly.

"Does she have pizza?"

"You know she doesn't - but you're coming anyway." she said haughtily.

Dante opened his eyes lazily and sat up. Yes, he was going anyway. Sleeping through dinner under Mrs. Weasley's watch just wasn't worth the trouble.

"Any of the Order hanging around?"

"Just Remus." Ron chimed in from the doorway.

They trudged down to the kitchen, where Molly Weasley had just turned off the stove, Ginny was claiming cutlery, and Mr. Weasley and the twins were putting the dishes on the table.

Sirius Black was sitting at the table chatting with Remus Lupin. They both looked up, and Remus gave a thin smile. He looked kind of weary – the full moon was only a few days away.

"Hello." he said.

"Hey." Sirius said, as Harry took a seat next to him. Dante sat on Remus's other side.

"Long journey?" Remus asked him, clearly noticing the drowsiness.

"You could say that. Mostly, just bored." Dante said simply. He had met Remus only one other time, when the ex-professor had come to Hog's Head to inform Aberforth that the Order was being recalled again. They hadn't talked a lot, but Dante assumed Remus was aware of his heritage.

Remus smiled a little. "You remind me of ourselves when we were that age."

"Can't say I'm too pleased," Dante said. "I pride myself on being unique!"

"Even the arrogance is pretty similar, I must say."

Dante snorted. "Well, mine's well justified."

"From what I hear, you've got an identical twin." Remus reminded him. Dante's face darkened.

"We're polar opposites." he said. To his satisfaction, Remus didn't say anything more, choosing to only nod and turn to his food, apparently sensing that he had breached a private topic.

Dinner passed in idle chit-chats. Hermione occasionally spoke to him, but only about the new spells she'd learned and how good he was getting at wordless spells – Dante informed her that he had learned a few Charms, difficult as they seemed to him, wandless, like the Summoning Charm. Hermione was so jealous she stopped speaking to him for the rest of the meal.

At last, when Mrs. Weasley suggested they go to bed, Sirius breached the Order topic. He seemed to think Harry had a right to know what was going on with Voldemort – and Mrs. Weasley seemed to disagree, leading to a rather big argument that resulted in Ginny Weasley being forced to leave the room and the others getting filled in on the Order's objectives. These consisted of recruiting more allies and keeping track of Voldemort's plans. Albus Dumbledore had been trying to convince people about Voldemort's return, which had backfired horribly, as the Ministry had stripped him of many of his titles.

The explanations would have gone on, but for Mrs. Weasley, who had returned from putting Ginny to bed and wanted everyone else upstairs as well.

"You've given Harry plenty of information." she said to Sirius. "Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

"Why not?" said Harry quickly. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight —"

"No."

It was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke this time, but Lupin.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you . . . I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."

Dante stood along with the others. "No idea, huh?" he said under his breath. That was rich, especially considering Remus was the one staying at the Headquarters and he was the one who had been risking his life fighting demons for the whole summer. He had a feeling Remus heard him, because he gave him a rueful smile. "Fair enough." Dante added. "You adult wizards need a hobby, after all."

* * *

The next day started out quite uneventful. They were all woken by Fred and George, and after washing up they all went down to breakfast. Mrs. Weasley laid out their plans for the day: they would have to clean out a pixie infestation from one of the downstairs rooms. Apparently the house, which Sirius told them he had never considered a home, was actually home to all sorts of pests.

"What that elf had been doing for all these years-" she said disapprovingly. "More porridge, Harry?"

"Convenient." said Sirius, "That he disappears just when the house is actually needed."

"You said Kreature was devoted to this house!" said Hermione, setting her fork down. "He'd never have left it, not unless something's happened to him!"

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione. I've never been the heir to this house in my mother's eyes. He probably thought he'd go and serve one of my dear sisters instead." Sirius said with great dislike.

"Dumbledore tried to look for him!" Hermione protested.

"Well, Dumbledore doesn't have access to Malfoy Manor, does he?" said Sirius.

"Professor Snape would have-"

"Snape's loving it that I have to fill the position of a house elf in this house." Sirius said coolly. "I highly doubt he's in a hurry to find Kreature."

Hermione said nothing, but her eyebrows remained disapprovingly drawn.

"Malfoy manor?" asked Harry.

"My sister's married to Lucius Malfoy." Sirius said sourly. "Narcissa – you may have heard of her."

"Draco's your nephew?" Dante snorted. "Imagine that – he and Harry may as well be cousins!"

Fred and George shuddered dramatically and pushed their chairs away from Harry.

"Cut it out." Harry told them firmly.

"Ooh, pure - blood haughtiness manifesting already!" said Fred.

"We bow to your command, Your Royal Majesty, Mr. Harry Black-Malfoy-Potter, sir!" said George.

"Shut it, you two!" Mrs. Weasley scolded over Ron and Ginny's snickerings.

 **BANG.**

Nearly everyone jumped. The air in front of them had burst into a small ball of flames. From inside, a red and gold bird came soaring out- a phoenix.

"Fawkes?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Fawkes flew straight to Dante, settled on his shoulder and held his long talons out. Dante eyed him apprehensively. "Is it Uncle Albus?"

Fawkes gave a low, urgent trill.

Without hesitation, Dante grabbed the feet extended to him. He felt a burst of warmth, and then warm sunlight was blinding him.

* * *

Dante squinted ahead, but he didn't have to look too far. Dumbledore stood only about a hundred feet in front of him, near the tree where Dante and Vergil used to meet in first year. He was surrounded by what appeared to be the lowest types of scarecrow demons, but dozens of them. Light constantly flared from his wand, scattering the demons, wounding some of them, possibly even killing some, but he was clearly tiring, and the demons were closing in.

And Dante didn't have Rebellion.

Sometimes, he hated himself. On the other hand-

"That should make things more interesting." he muttered to himself, grinning.

"Fawkes, go get my sword. And the guns." he instructed the bird, and then leapt right into the fray.

He targeted the demon closest to Dumbledore and smashed its skull in with his bare hands, throwing the empty casing to shatter the head of another. Without pausing, he grabbed the blade the scarecrow was wielding and did a complete one-eighty, blade extended in front of him, beheading every demon within range. He glanced back over his shoulder. Dumbledore was still dutifully firing away spells, but this time he noticed something different – behind Dumbledore, cowering behind the tree trunk, was none other than Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of magic himself, and what appeared to be everyone on the Board of School Governors.

"Take a break, old man!" he called back to his great-Uncle, swinging one scarecrow around like a sword. "Maybe see to it that our honourable Minister doesn't drop dead from a heart-attack!"

He heard a soft chuckle, and the footsteps told him Dumbledore had wisely moved out of his striking range. Grinning ferociously, he charged into the ranks of the demons, riding on one of them as he dispatched the others, twirling his blade like a whirlwind. He stopped when the nearest circle was completely exterminated. He eyed the scattered demons in the next line– Dumbledore had clearly been holding his own.

A burst of flame, and Fawkes was flying in toward him, Rebellion clutched in his talons. Dante raised his hand, called to his sword, which cut a clear straight line through the demons towards him. He threw it back out again, like a Frisbee, and it decimated the next circle, leaving only the last line of demons.

Fawkes had reached overhead. The bird dropped the guns. Dante caught them, and started firing away the semi-automatics like machine guns. Within a few seconds, the demons were all gone – or so he thought.

As the dust settled, he heard a scream. Turning sharply, he saw Dumbledore standing in front of the Ministry group, his wand again extended in front of him as he fired spell after spell into the crowd of demons charging in towards them.

Dante tricked himself right in front of Dumbledore, slashing his way through the demons, Rebellion in a hundred places at once.

"Where are they coming from?" he yelled. He impaled one of the demons, then shifted to place himself in front of one of the Ministry officials, blocking a demon's scythe. He felt a stabbing pain from another direction as a blade, meant for the man behind him, sank into his outstretched left arm instead. He ignored the shriek from the wizard as he dispatched the demon using the blade embedded in his flesh.

A blue light danced in front of him, flying towards his right. It was an indication light, used by Dumbledore – possibly, and Dante saw it going a few hundred feet before going into a round, smoky dark hole – surrounded by silver lights.

It was definitely a hell gate.(1)

Dante cut down the remaining demons within range with lightning speed before he turned towards the portal, his arms flashing red with energy as he charged Ebony and Ivory. Scarecrows were now dropping out of the portal like raindrops. Dumbledore threw up shields in front of him, trying to give him the necessary time, but he couldn't use a consistent shield for fear of ricocheting Dante's bullets back at him. Several flying blades managed to get through. Dante winced a little as they made contact, but didn't move his hands.

Just when he felt himself start to feel slightly dizzy, he pulled the triggers. The charged bullets flew into the portal. There was a deafening, crumbling sound, and then the portal closed in on itself like an oyster. It was definitely shut, but just as clearly there.

Dante scrutinized it. He'd been sure a far less strong charged bullet would destroy the portal. The gate was stronger than any other he'd seen so far. If this was the work of a demon lord, it was a far powerful demon that any he'd come across. It was a wonder that only scarecrows had come out of it so far. If he gave it much more time, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what else would come out of it.

But he knew he had to finish off the remaining demons first. He ruthlessly pulled the blades out of him and threw them at the scarecrows, before charging in himself. He kept his sword charged as he delivered each strike, and within a minute, the grounds were empty save for him and the humans.

Dante turned back to the portal. "Tough nut to crack, huh? Fair enough." he began to charge Rebellion.

"Dante…" Dumbledore's voice was heavy with warning. Rather unnecessary, really, Dante thought absently. He was well aware that he was over-exerting himself.

The sword was so red now it was nearly painful to look at. Dante ran forward, jumped up and above the gate, and sliced it through in one clean motion. There was a burst of white light, and then nothing.

* * *

The first thing Dante saw when he woke up was a blinding grin.

"You're awake!" said Hermione. Her face was hovering over him.

Dante sat up, and she moved away. Once he was fully upright, her head collided with his shoulder, arms wrapping around him.

"Ooomf! Hermione!"

"Easy, Hermione!" Ron said from his left. Dante finally took in his surroundings. He was in his own room at the Hog's Head. Chaos sat by his bed on her perch, staring at him beadily. He held out a hand towards the bird, and she, after a moment's consideration, hopped onto his shoulder, startling Hermione, who finally pulled back.

"You're coming back!" she cried.

"Huh? To where? And how the hell did I get here?"

"I think Dumbledore hit you with some sort of sneaky sleeping spell." Harry said, grinning. "He said the backlash from the portal knocked you out, but I don't think that would've kept you out cold for this long."

"He said you'd have been up seconds after you got knocked out." said Aberforth, who Dante just noticed was sitting in a chair in the corner. "But it would've been better if you weren't awake to participate in what they discussed. You know what he's like."

The familiar disdain for Albus Dumbledore's schemes was evident in his tone.

"Wait," Dante held up a hand. "Stop. Halt. What discussion?"

"They reinstated you!" Hermione was grinning at him, her eyes sparkling in joy. "You're coming back to Hogwarts this year!"

"You made the news, mate." said Ron, handing him a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Wide-eyed, Dante took the paper and scanned it. The headline to the news read:

 _ **Ex-Student Saves School from 'Great Danger'**_

 _ **Granted Re-admission Pass, Says Board**_

 _In an unprecedented event, Dante Sparda, an expelled student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been permitted to continue his studies at the school. The decision was taken unanimously by the Board of Governors after Mr. Sparda was severely injured while protecting them and the school from a great threat. The Governors were performing a routine check-up at the time of the attack. Strangely, all of them remained tight-lipped about the threat itself._

' _It was dangerous, that's all I can say.' said a governor, after having been assured his name will not be published. 'But he took care of it, the threat is past and the school is safe once more.'_

 _Dante Sparda was expelled from Hogwarts in the year 1991, on grounds of being a '_ _danger_ _' to the school. When asked to comment on whether the earlier decision might not have been baseless, the official said, 'It certainly was not. But he has proved himself to now have the best interests of the school at heart. Everyone deserves a second chance.'_

 _The correspondent has been assured that Mr. Sparda will make a full recovery. However, neither the student in question nor the Headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, was available for comments._

"So," Dante said after he'd read the thing for the third time. "I save their lives, and they give me a bunch of schoolwork?"

"Come off it!" said Harry, Ron and Hermione together. Dante laughed, feeling giddy with joy.

"Which year?" he asked. "Did the old man say anything?"

"Dumbledore said you'll be in our year." Hermione informed him.

"Looks like putting up with your nagging paid off." Dante ducked under the swat she aimed at him.

"Look at this: they're still trying to cover their hides." Harry said with disgust. He was glancing over the article.

"Yes, I saw." Hermione said lowly. "Vile, the lot of them, saying you've changed your ways now… as if you were ever a real 'danger'-"

"Hey, I can be plenty dangerous!" Dante protested, feigning offense. Hermione looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or yell.

"Your mouth never helps your case, does it?" Ron said happily. "Dumbledore was right to knock you out."

Dante chuckled and didn't respond, because he actually agreed. Chaos gave an impatient cry.

"Hey, who closed the window? No wonder she's going crazy." Dante crossed the room and opened the window. Chaos leaped out and flew up towards the sky.

Dante watched her until she was invisible even to his eyesight. He felt like he was flying, too.

* * *

Dumbledore came at night, after the trio had left.

"I believe congratulations are in order." he said, setting a large pizza box in front of him and a tray of strawberry sundaes on the bedside table.

"Wow, you're the best!" Dante picked out a slice of pizza. "So how'd you swing it?"

"Oh, it was a combination of good luck and my not-so-insignificant persuasion skills." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "It was not out of the goodness of their heart, I assure you. I convinced them Hogwarts is in need of your… unique skillset. After what they saw, it was quite easy."

"But as a student?"

"That may have been playing the odds." Dumbledore said. "I spoke to Cornelius about having you at Hogwarts as a covert asset. Naturally, he assumed keeping you hidden was the worst thing possible to his career, and hastened to do the exact opposite."

Dante laughed loudly. "Covert asset? And he fell for that?"

"Actually," Dumbledore's eyes turned regretful. "That was my initial plan."

"What?"

"Keeping you at Hogwarts was necessary to keep Harry safe from Vergil. I wanted you there, hidden but available at the first sign of danger. No one else would have stood a chance against Vergil, Dante. Not even me."

Dante thought for a moment what a torture that would have been. Then he took a bite of his pizza and shrugged it off. "Guess you didn't have a choice. Good thing we didn't have to go through with it, though."

"I wonder." Dumbledore said, and his gaze was suddenly sharp. "There has never been a gate to the underworld at Hogwarts, my boy. Yet it was opened at the exact time when the governors were present. Contrary to the words of the Daily Prophet, checking on school maintenance is hardly common for them. Their original reason for visiting was to make sure the school was not hosting anything… hostile towards the ministry."

"Looks like they ended up with a little more than they bargained for."

Dumbledore allowed this with a smile and a nod. "I must say," he went on, "Considering the timing of the attack, I see little possibility of coincidence."

"You think some demon lord wants me at Hogwarts?" Dante said with a raised brow.

"The possibility has crossed my mind, and the probable ramifications are not what I would wish to dwell upon." Dumbledore said gravely.

Dante sat in silence for a moment. "Way to kill the party, old man." he said finally.

"And I am deeply sorry." Dumbledore said immediately. "But I was quite confident you wouldn't like to be ignorant of the possibility of such an event."

"Well, your confidence wasn't misplaced." Dante said after another moment of silence. "But I'll leave the scheming to the masterminds." he took a large bite out of his pizza. "You want one?" he offered another slice to his great-uncle.

Dumbledore took it happily. "I must thank you," he said. "For the faith in my still well-functioning metabolism."

"You're tough for an old fart." Dante gave him a thumb up. "So… are you gonna tell me about why Vergil wants to off Harry?"

Dumbledore took a measured bite out of his slice. "You seemed disinterested."

"Yeah, now Harry wants to know. On second thought, you can just tell him." Dante narrowed his eyes just a fraction. "Or… can you?"

Dumbledore smiled regretfully. "You're easy to underestimate, Dante. An old man's mistake, I suppose. I brought this for you," he brought out a book from within a fold of his robes. "And I believe it will be satisfactory in providing answers. You are, of course, welcome to share them with your friends."

"The tales of Beedle the Bard." Dante read. He turned the book over in his hands, frowning a little. "I think Mum used to read this to us. There was one story Vergil really loved - it had to do with three brothers…and something about hollow death?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Your words only lend more credence to my beliefs, Dante. The elements are called the Deathly Hallows, and I'll tell you what I know of them…"(2)

The pizza was gone by the time Dumbledore had finished his story. Dante licked the residue off his fingers and said, "Master of Death, huh? Sounds cool, but I wouldn't have thought it to be Vergil's thing."

"He may have found new information on it." Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "As to what kind of information, we may only research, for mere guesswork is more likely to lead us on the wrong track altogether."

"If Vergil is after Harry's cloak, why not just hide the cloak, then?"

"Vergil has no interest in killing Harry, Dante. Lord Voldemort, on the other hand, wants his death above all else's, and I dare not take away Harry's best chance of evading an attack on his person."

"Hm." Dante shrugged one shoulder, staring absently at the glittering stars on Dumbledore's midnight blue robes. Several moments passed, and when he did not speak again, Dumbledore rose.

"Well, it's been a pleasure as always, my boy. Before I forget, Molly asked me to inform you that she will be arranging a celebration for your re-admission into Hogwarts."

"For me?" Dante blinked. "She's met me what, like, twice?"

"In times like this, every moment of joy is a cause worthy of celebration." Dumbledore was smiling again. "She expects you tomorrow evening. I regret that I will not be joining you, but urgent matters must be attended to-"

"Or avoided at all costs," Dante muttered under his breath.

"And I am weary from a rather long day. As are you, surely. Time for bed, I think." Dumbledore said pleasantly, but quite firmly.

"Sleep tight, old man." said Dante. "Keep me posted."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly and left the room.

* * *

 **1: Hell gate: Portal between human world and the underworld.**

 **2: I assumed the readers are familiar with the story of the Deathly Hallows and so did not repeat it here. If some of you are not, please read about it in the HP wiki, it will be important for the story.**

 **Reply to unsigned review(s):**

 **Tank: I'm sorry, but he won't. He's only fifteen in this story, after all. He can be a student, which he is, but not a professor.**

 **AnotherGuest: Thank you, and I guess you're right! I plan to leave out POV-indicators in my next chapters.**

 **Please leave a review! *puppy eyes***


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has favorited and/or followed. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, mostly because nothing happens, but bear with me, I swear the next chapter will be better!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Dante arrived in Grimmauld Place in the morning after breakfast. Hermione pounced on him and dragged him upstairs.

"Come on," she said briskly, "We're getting rid of a doxie infestation. It'll probably take us well into the afternoon to finish up."

Dante stepped into the room to see everyone spraying curtains, clothes tied over their mouths and noses. Hermione handed him a sprayer.

Dante watched the curtains and doxies flying out of it. Then he looked back at the bottle, a grin plastering itself on his face. "Mrs. Weasley," he said, "You might want to step back."

She turned to him, her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Dante himself stepped back, until he was in the middle of the room. He pulled out his wand and gave it a twirl. "Accio doxies!"

Hermione screamed. Ginny squeaked, and Ron, Harry, Fred and George all yelped as what looked to be hundreds of doxies zoomed out of the curtains and went for Dante, who couldn't even be seen under the attacking doxies.

"Attack!" said Fred, and the rest of them aimed their cans.

"NO – LEAVE IT!" Mrs. Weasley's cry stopped them in their tracks. "THE SPRAYS - THEY'RE POISONOUS! YOU'LL KNOCK HIM OUT!"

"He's half-demon!" Ron cried back.

"Someone missed the memo." said Dante from somewhere inside the swarm, and the doxies suddenly all stilled. For a moment, they remained there, as if frozen, and then dropped to the floor as one, leaving Dante standing victorious inside a circle of petrified doxies, holding the spray can aloft.

"They're more fun than I would've given them credit for." he said, grinning.

"You - " Mrs. Weasley was red in the face.

"Well, the ministry can't detect my magic here, it's under Fidelius…"

Mrs. Weasley worked her jaw silently for a moment, and then clutched her head and left the room.

Hermione was shaking her head mutely as she stared at him. Ginny was giggling madly. Ron and Harry were both grinning.

Fred and George were giving him disappointed looks. "You got off easy because you're not her son." said Fred, indignantly. "How is that fair?"

"Especially considering the crime." said George.

"But we'll just have to make the best of it." Fred said, and both twins gave him thumbs up and went to work picking up doxies and pocketing them.

Hermione grabbed him by the elbow and steered him towards the door. "Get cleaned up." she said. "Then get down for lunch. You're lucky Mrs. Weasley's too nice to cancel the entire party."

"Hey, I helped!"

Hermione pushed him out the door, turned back, turned around, smiling hugely, and gave him a bear hug.

"It's great to have you back." she said.

* * *

Despite the dubious means, Mrs. Weasley could not deny that the work was done, and so all of them got the rest of the day to themselves. The conversations started out innocently enough, but soon turned to the Order and what Voldemort could be up to.

"D'you reckon Snape's the only spy the Order's got?" said Ron.

"Probably not." said Hermione. "But he must be highest ranked in You-Know-Who's circle – there's always some sort of meeting called when he comes around. He must have a lot of important information."

"'Course Snape's highest ranked." Fred said grimly. "He hates most of us, a lot of the Order members doesn't trust him – and he hates Harry."

"Must be worth extra points, that one." George agreed.

Dante stifled a yawn behind his hand. Hermione turned to him, her eyes wide.

"Why don't you tell us about what happened in the school?" she said. "We know that there were demons, but a portal opening there? That's unprecendanted, a demonic portal has never opened in Hogwarts according to Hogwarts: A History-"

"Uncle Albus thinks some demon-lord wanted to play." Dante said lightly.

"There are demon lords?" Ginny piped up.

"Sure." said Fred. "They even have a king."

"You've been reading about demons?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"We know the interesting bits." George said airily.

"We do know how to read, Hermione." Fred said, frowning.

"You went to the library and looked up demons?" Hermione pressed.

"No, we asked our little friend here." George nonchalantly patted Dante on the shoulder.

"You mean you badgered me until I threw you out." said Dante.

"Literally." said Fred.

"It wasn't your most patient moment." added George.

"Oh, I beg to differ." Dante folded his arms defensively. "I didn't break anything, so…"

"Except for the priceless relics we were carrying." George pointed out.

"That piece of china was already broken!"

"Yes, but you broke the broken piece." Fred said patiently.

Hermione, Harry and Ron had found another topic of discussion.

"It could be like a bomb." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Something of mass destruction." Harry said.

"A mob?" Ron asked them.

"Bomb. Explosive devices." Hermione answered. "It can kill a lot of people at once."

"I've always wondered why wizards don't have anything like that." Dante agreed. "They do have fiendfyre, though-"

"They have what?" said Harry.

"Fire that consumes everything in its path." said Hermione. "It's uncontrollable, though, isn't it?"

"Uncle Albus can control it somewhat." said Dante. "Maybe Voldemort can, too."

"Can you?" Ron asked.

Dante grinned. "Considering it involves conjuring and controlling stuff… yes, I can."

"Wicked!" said Fred and George.

Hermione eyed him with admiration. "I knew you're great in Transfiguration, but this is… really advanced!"

"Can you do it now?" Ginny said eagerly.

"Hi, Mom!" Ron said loudly. Ginny snapped her mouth closed and looked at Mrs. Weasley, who was standing in the doorway eyeing them with a suspicious frown.

"Food's ready." She said. "Wash up and get downstairs."

After she had left, Ginny gave Dante another hopeful look, but he only shrugged and said, "After all the trouble you're going through cleaning this house, it'll be a real shame to burn it down." After a moment's thought, he added, "Maybe someday."

* * *

The table was packed with food. Dante was extremely surprised to see glasses of strawberry sundae sitting by the plates, charmed to stay frozen.

"Dumbledore said you'd like it." Mrs. Weasley informed him as they all sat down to eat. "Fred, George, no… DON'T SUMMON THEM!"

The cutlery zoomed over her head and landed with a thunk, one inside a bowl, another on a plate that cracked down the middle from the force.

"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU TWO!" she yelled at them. Dante discreetly stuffed his earphones in his ear. Family dinners had never been his thing, anyway, and he could definitely do without the yelling.

* * *

Dinner passed at rapid speed and without any further incident. When he was halfway through his dessert, Dante heard something that made him look up from his sundae towards where Hermione was talking to Remus.

"-reminds me of his mother."

"Yes, I saw her records." said Hermione. "She had quite a lot of incidents to her name."

"Eva had a screwed up notion of fair play." Sirius joined the conversation.

"Like what?" Dante asked, his spoon frozen halfway to his mouth.

"She used to jump into any fight that involved unequal opponents." said Remus. "Never got made prefect, but she got the Head Girl badge. That made things worse. She got it into her head that she was responsible for every student in Hogwarts."

"She had a deceptively motherly vibe." Sirius said grimly. "That was a nightmare year – she never took off points or gave detentions, but she'd jump in and take sides in any duel she thought was unfair. She got in prank wars too – it was ridiculous."

"She pulled off any on you?" Ginny asked from Hermione's other side.

"On James and Sirius." said Remus, grinning. "She jinxed off all the hair on one side of their heads."

Ginny howled with laughter. Hermione looked torn between disapproval and amusement.

"Yeah." Sirius said, grinning. "She got a lot of detentions, too, even as Head Girl."

"Mostly because she smartmouthed everyone- including the teachers." said Remus. "She rarely got detention for fighting because she never used to start any fight. If she admitted to throwing the first hex against you, it was your reputation that got ruined, because it meant you were bullying someone." he smiled at Dante. "From what Hermione told me, it seems like you take after her."

"I try." Dante said sincerely.

"Without the motherly vibe, that is." said Sirius, laughing. "That's one thing I definitely don't see in you. When the firsties were missing home or having some other problems, they used to go running to your mother, and that wasn't just limited to Gryffindor House."

Dante winced at that prospect. "Well, it takes a supermom to raise Vergil and me. But no offense, I'd rather not play that role."

Hermione snorted. "I definitely can't see you doing that." She agreed. "Have you bought your books yet?"

"Cut me some slack, Hermione, I got admitted yesterday!"

"You need to work harder than any of us, you know that, right? You've been practicing at home, I know, but that's just not the same!"

"Whatever…" Dante went back to his sundae. Hermione's lips turned down. Dante sighed.

It would be a long summer.

* * *

Dante went to visit Snape that night, at Hogwarts.

Not that this was the first time he had visited Snape this summer. Dante had learned a lot of his magical dueling skills from Snape – hands on, of course – it wasn't so much teaching as it was learning to cast the spells Snape himself hurled at him without warning during duels. They had met up many times on every summer since his first year.

Dante had a feeling Snape knew that Dante could beat him at any duel they've ever had using his speed factor alone, that he was always holding back. That seemed to make him more determined to catch Dante off his guard, with curses and hexes that Dante sometimes wondered if Snape conjured up himself. He never protested, because it worked out to his advantage. He probably knew nearly all of the non-fatal curses and hexes Snape had in his arsenal. It was an unspoken agreement between them that neither of them would attack the other in a way that was fatal, even if cast by Snape and fatal only for humans. Neither of them was willing to take that risk, and the other knew that. It made for a strange bond of trust that could, at times, almost pass for casual companionship.

This summer, it was different. The Potions Master acted more and more aloof, almost like he had during Dante's first year at Hogwarts. It was getting on his nerves, and he was resolved to do something about it.

He entered Hogwarts through a passage from Hog's Head to a hidden room in Hogwarts that was known as the Room of Requirement. The room had conjured up this passage because he had asked it to, after one of their duels. He knew Snape would move into the school a few days before term started – he always did.

He found Snape busy at his worktable, making some sort of potion. As he entered Snape's office without knocking, Snape paused in his work, his hand inches above his pestle. "I see that civilized behavior is too much to ask for Albus Dumbledore's great-nephew." he said softly.

Dante stepped forward, pausing in the zone where the blue fire underneath the cauldrons cast strange shadows across his face. Then he smirked, and the mysterious look vanished into thin air.

"What can I say?" he spread his hands. "Civility and I just don't mix."

"Evidently." sneered Snape, resuming his work.

"Huh." Dante snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the other man. "So what are we playing today? Hoop jumping? Puzzle solving? Or maybe.." he raised his eyebrows, "Go fish?"

Snape finally turned to look at him. "What nonsense are you blathering, Sparda?" he snarled.

"Oh, come on! Every time I've come this summer we've done this routine. It used to be fun, but it's getting a bit... repetitive, don't you think? Takes the fun out of it!" he shook his head in a disappointed manner. "If you're gonna play the hard to get game..." he pointed a finger at Snape, "At least make it more interesting."

For a long, long moment, Snape seemed completely lost for words. An ugly blush had crept over his cheeks, and his face was horribly twisted.

"You dare, Dante?" he hissed finally. "You dare twist my words to make them some sort of perverse, pathetic joke? You have no idea- none- of what I've had to endure this summer. Don't act like you're being victimized when faced with the simple fact that not everything must revolve around you and cater to your heroics!"

Dante watched him, unblinking, somber. "Are you done?"

Looking furious beyond belief, Snape abruptly turned back to his potion. Dante leaned casually against a wall, crossing his arms.

"Aren't your fellow Gryffindors eager to celebrate with you?" Snape snapped after a long silence. "What in the name of sanity are you doing here, Sparda?"

"Is it a crime now to check up on old friends?"

Snape's upper lip curled. "Would you perhaps care to rephrase that?"

"I haven't been your student for the past three years, so... nah." Dante pushed himself away from the wall. "But if you want me to leave, just say the word."

The serious tone finally seemed to break through Snape's haze of rage, so uncharacteristic it was.

"If you came here for emotional assistance," Snape said, sounding more than a little wrong-footed. "You know I'm not the person you need."

 _Huh? He must think me getting serious means something bad's happened again._ Dante snorted mirthlessly. "Trust me, assistance is the last thing on my mind. Looks like I screwed up again. I've got to pay that off, don't I? If you're angry," he took a step forward, "And if there's something I can do to make up for that, just name it. This distance thing is really starting to get old."

"If you want cuddling then go and ask Black!"

Disturbing silence.

Dante stared at him with wide eyes. Then he erupted into laughter. Snape gritted his teeth, humiliation and anger burning in his eyes.

"For real?" Dante said finally, wiping a tear from his eye. "Students' greatest nightmare Severus Snape acting like some kind of jealous-"

"If you have nothing of value to say, I suggest you remove yourself from-"

Dante made a momentous effort to get himself in check. "Sorry, I'm sorry." he said, lifting his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. "I solemnly swear that I love you just as much as I've ever done and there's space in my heart for both you and Sirius." he said with a straight face. "That said, I broke your heart, so what must I do to make up for it?"

Snape's eyes narrowed.

"Why don't you try out some of the things I've been subjected to at the hands of the senior Potter and his gang?" he said with a twisted smile.

Dante straightened up, surprised. "You want me to 'almost' get bitten by a werewolf?" he said, cocking his head in amusement.

"Or hanging upside down and-" Snape paused, seemingly thinking better of whatever he was going to say next. "Humiliated in front of every student in school!"

"That's kind of a two person job, don't ya think?" Dante said lazily, but his thoughts were as focused as they ever were. "Unless you want to do the cursing yourself-"

"Why not?" Snape hissed. "You think it's uneven, Sparda? Unfair? Your precious Black and his gang wouldn't attack me unless they were four on one, what would you call that, I wonder?"

"Actually, I think it's just bad taste." Dante shrugged. "And that if you do that, it's gonna cost you your job?"

"Is that right? But when a prefect and a head boy join forces against a student, they're applauded for it?" snarled the Potions Master. "When James Potter attacked me, he was promoted to Head Boy! When I fought back, that was Dark Magic, breaking rules, and slimy Slytherins being villanous!"

"So it all comes back to Uncle Albus, then."

Snape paused abruptly. "I'm not accusing the headmaster of unfairness." he said stiffly. "He couldn't have known everything that went on in the school... I'm sure it never crossed his mind that everyone's favorite boy Potter was nothing but a coward and a bully. He made Lupin prefect, I believe, so that he would put muzzles on his housmates. It was not his fault that Lupin was too much of a coward to honour that trust..."

Dante snorted softly, shaking his head. "You'd make a good Hufflepuff." he said. "Any house except Gryffindor, really..."

Snape was suddenly only a few inches from Dante's face, his wand clenched in his fist, face drained of all color. "Are you calling me a coward, Sparda?"

"What, you calling yourself a Gryffindor?" Dante said, his eyebrows raised.

Snape recoiled as if struck. He stepped back, and the look of bewilderment on his face was almost comical.

"Gryffindor does not have a monopoly on courage." he muttered finally.

Dante finally pushed himself away from the wall. "Nah, only on recklessness." he added with a smile, "You're proof enough."

Snape's eyes widened sharply. He stared at Dante in stunned silence.

A loud hiss emitted from the cauldron. Snape turned away and dipped his stirring rod into the potion, adding two clockwise stirs and three in reverse.

"Were those counter clockwise stirs supposed to be added?" Dante asked him, moving closer to the cauldron. From the ingredients, it was now clear what Snape was brewing - Polyjuice Potion. "I don't remember anything about that."

"They are for the extra five ingredients added two hours before." said Snape, waving a hand towards the notebook he had left open beside the cauldron. "This method of brewing lengthens the timespan to just over sixteen hours."

"I thought the official maximum was twelve hours?" Dante looked impressed. "You really have been cooking up a storm in that lab of yours, aren't you?"

"Keeping this success out of the records has been crucial for a great many undercover operations." said Snape. "When someone is being monitored for suspicion of using, they are watched for no more than twelve or thirteen hours."

"And here I am worried about my lack of recognition." Dante laughed. "You should publish these stuff after war ends."

Snape smiled bitterly, but didn't comment. A comfortable silence took over as Dante flipped the pages of the book and Snape went back to work.

It felt like the calm after a storm.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: First a longer gap than usual, and then a shorter-than most chapter! Hope you like it, anyway! Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited.**

 **On to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Morning of September 1st dawned bright and clear. Dante slept on, oblivious.

He finally woke up to the shrill cry of a hawk.

"Hey, morning." he yawned. Lifting his arm off his eyes, he glanced at the clock. It was early afternoon.

The train had to be halfway to Hogsmeade already. Still a long time before he was to meet the others at the station and take the carriages from there to Hogwarts.

Chaos gave another shrill cry and fluttered over, landing on his shoulder. Dante absent-mindedly stroked her as he got up and headed for the bathroom to wash up. Then he would go down to the kitchen. Aberforth would have food out for him, surely.

True enough, his grandfather was at the kitchen table. As always, he seemed to have heard Dante moving around upstairs and was laying out the food.

"Afternoon." Aberforth said as he entered, setting down a large pizza box at the table.

"You let me sleep in, and now you're giving me pizza? You're getting soft, gramps." Dante informed him as he sat down at the table and dug into his breakfast.

"Figured you wouldn't get a lot of chances of that for the next eight months." Aberforth said mildly. "It's O.W.L year."

"What am I gonna do with O. ? Work in the Ministry?" Dante snorted in amusement. "Unless they're opening a demon hunting department, I'll pass."

Aberforth gave him a severe look. "You've been listening to Albus's rubbish again."

Dante rolled his eyes. "Look, gramps, like it or not, this job's been kind of passed down to me. I'll have to fight whether I like it or not. Fortunately…I happen to love it."

"Nonsense." Aberforth said decisively. "You can do anything you like with your life. Sparda had a day job and he worked it just fine."

"Until he went and got himself killed." Dante pointed out.

"And his 'normal' job was the one that got him killed, was it?"

Dante held up his hands. "It's cool, gramps. Point is, desk-job and I don't mix."

Aberforth grunted. "That's alright. It's your choice, is what I'm saying. You understand that?"

"Yeah, appreciated." Dante said. "Thanks. Still couldn't care less about O. , though."

"And don't go rushing blindly into everything Albus asks from you." his grandfather said gruffly, but his gaze was intense. "You're a kid."

"Hey! Just 'cause I'm not five hundred like you-"

"You've got to remember," Aberforth spoke over him. "When you're not going off demon hunting, it's okay to be a regular kid. I'm not telling you not to step up if someone needs you. I'm telling you to stay put when people don't need you. You understand?"

Dante opened his mouth, then his eyes met his grandfather's, and the peculiar, almost beseeching look in those blue eyes made him close it again. Wordlessly, he gave a little nod of acceptance.

Aberforth's lips quirked into one of his very rare smiles. "Good."

* * *

 _"You're just as sane as I am."_

Staring up at the strange creatures, Harry could not find Luna's words very comforting.

"Be'tiful, ain't they?" said a voice, in an uncanny resemblance of Hagrid, and Harry jumped.

"Hey, Dante." he said. The other boy had come to stand just beside him. "Er… you can see them?"

"Kinda hard to miss." Dante said dryly. He was staring at the horse-like thing, too. "Unless you haven't seen anyone die… which would be quite a feat for someone like me."

Harry wasn't quite sure if Dante was joking or serious. He settled on the latter after a glance at Dante's too-impassive expression.

"So I can see them because I've seen Cedric die?" he said.

"I guess so. Gramps told me about these things, but…" he waved a hand in the direction of the winged horse-like creatures, "Threstals aren't exactly common. This is the first time I've seen one. They say if you see one, it'll bring you bad luck. Personally I think it's the other way around."

Harry said dryly, "You can say that again."

Dante snorted. "C'mon, then. Feast awaits!"

* * *

"Reckon he'll be like that for the feast?" Ron muttered to Harry.

"If none of us wakes him." Harry muttered back. Beside them, Dante was slumped on the table, mop of silver-white hair resting right on the empty plate. As uncomfortable as the position looked, he looked so peaceful Harry was just glad he wasn't snoring.

"Ridiculous if you ask me." Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief. "If someone had given me an welcome like that, I would've spent the entire evening grinning about it."

Harry nodded; Dante had received quite an welcome coming in. Dumbledore himself had stood up, his arms spread wide, and the teachers had followed his example and stood up themselves. About half the population of students had also got to their feet, mostly fifth and sixth and seventh years, clapping thunderously, eerily reminiscent of Dante's farewell three years before. And just like that day, Dante had looked as if he was about to cry. He'd composed himself though, and raised his hand and waved like a celebrity waving to his adoring fans, before he'd taken his seat next to Hermione.

The only teacher that had not stood up was a pink clad woman that reminded Harry of a very large toad. She had looked as if she'd swallowed a particularly nasty-smelling fly.

"It's a shame he missed the sorting hat's song." Hermione said. "It was very strange, I wonder what he would have made of it."

"I think it's the song that put him to sleep." said Harry.

"Shh!" said Ron, his eyes wide. McGonagall was giving them scorching glares. Hastily, they turned back to the sorting.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry did a double take. The blonde girl getting down from the stool was strikingly beautiful and strangely familiar. She was tall for her age, too. He was sure he'd seen her somewhere, but he couldn't place her. He looked at Hermione to see if she'd recognized the girl, but Hermione was frowning as well, staring not at the girl, but at the teachers' table, where Harry just noticed the professors looking very unsettled. Professor Sprout was whispering urgently to Professor Sinistra, who was nodding gravely. Professor Flitwick was talking into Professor Grubbly-Plank's ear, who had her head bowed nearly to the table to hear him closely. Dumbledore himself was looking as unfazed as ever, but he was sitting quite straight in his chair.

"Blimey, that girl must be part veela!" Ron said.

"Of course not, but she looks very familiar." Hermione whispered. "Harry?"

Harry shook his head absently. "I think I saw her, too, but I can't place her." Then he closed his mouth, abruptly, because McGonagall was glaring again. Impatiently, he waited for the sorting to end.

It was another few minutes before the food appeared. Hermione reached over and shook Dante awake.

"Get up!" she snapped.

"Over already?" Dante lifted his head and grabbed the spoon to dig in.

"There was a first year at the sorting-"

"Just one? That explains it-"

"- that we're sure we've seen before ." Hermione finished.

Dante craned his neck to see who Hermione was pointing at. He stiffened abruptly. "What...?"

"What?" Hermione said urgently.

"She looks like..." Dante shook his head. "Never mind. Did you catch her name?"

"No." said Harry.

"Patricia McDonnell." Hermione said at the same time.

"Oh." a strange look overtook Dante's features. It was relief, worry and puzzlement all mixed into one, but he said nothing, and turned to his food.

But there was definitely something about the girl that still concerned him deeply. For the rest of the meal, he kept staring at her, looking very gloomy, speaking only when spoken to. Hermione couldn't get a straight answer out of him no matter how much she tried. Finally, she gave a long suffering sigh and gave up, finishing the rest of her meal in huffy silence. Harry didn't particularly care as long as she was quiet. He was starting to develop a headache.

At last the desserts disappeared, and Dumbledore stood to make a speech. He had not gotten in three sentences before the pink-clad woman, Umbridge, interrupted him.

She had not gotten in three sentences before Dante was asleep and snoring this time. The snoring got louder as the speech went on, and Harry was starting to doubt if Dante was actually asleep. Parvati and Lavender were giggling, Hermione was looking annoyed at the noise(she was one of the few actually listening to Professor Umbridge) and Ron had his head in his hands, looking about ready to nod off himself. Harry was quite certain Umbridge couldn't have missed the sound, but she acted like she was oblivious to the whole thing.

Soon, Harry and Ron struck up a conversation, trying to ignore Dante's overly loud snoring.

They both jumped when there were banging sounds of chairs being pushed back; Dumbledore had dismissed the students. Hermione called the first years, and they all walked over, looking shy.

As the girl from before passed them, Dante sat up, looking alert. His eyes widened sharply when he came face to face with her, his gaze catching the girl's brown eyes.

"Hi." the girl said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Hey." Dante said, his voice unusually quiet and he looked a little... uncertain? "Patricia, right?"

"Yes. You must be Dante, the boy they say can face and beat overwhelming odds. Am I right?"

Dante blinked. "Almost. I can only do that in special circumstances. If you know what I mean?"

"I think so." She was smiling. "I've heard stories."

"Is that right?" Dante's face seemed to harden. "Have I heard any about you?"

Her smile turned into a smirk. "I doubt it, or you would have come looking, wouldn't you?"

"First years!" Hermione called again, her voice commanding.

"Until next time." Patricia said over her shoulder as she turned to walk away.

After Ron and Hermione had led the first years away, Harry walked with his remaining friend to the staircase before he stopped and rounded on Dante.

"What was that?" he demanded.

Dante looked weary in a way that had nothing to do with physical exhaustion. "Not here." he said simply.

Though impatient for answers, Harry waited with Dante in the common room until it had emptied and Ron and Hermione had joined them.

"Well?"

"She's a demon." said Dante.

"How could you tell?" Hermione exclaimed.

Dante tapped his head. "Demon alert. Why do you think I got up just when she passed me?"

"And I think I saw her before." Harry pressed.

"You didn't." Dante said. He exhaled slowly. "She looks like my mother. I've seen her school pictures... Patricia's like a carbon copy."

They all took a moment to digest this.

"She's eleven years old." Hermione said after a moment. "You would've been four when she was born... you must not remember a lot from that time. Tony, you don't think...?"

Whatever Dante was about to say was cut off when footsteps sounded on the staircase to the girls' dormitory.

Patricia appeared at the foot of the stairs. "I forgot my comb." she explained, pointing towards the sofa. "Never mind me, I'll just go..." she picked up the comb. "Oh," she added, looking at Dante with another little smile. "Patricia's such a mouthful, just call me Trish."

With that, she left.

* * *

Dante waited for all his roommates to fall asleep before he slipped out of bed.

Getting through to Dumbledore's office wasn't too difficult; he only needed five guesses before he came to the right password: Suger Squeal.

Dante had never found Dumbledore asleep. This time was no different. Dumbledore was sitting on an armchair by the fireplace, a pair of knitting needles in his hands and a half-finished woolen sock resting on his lap.

"Good evening, Dante." he said calmly, seemingly not at all surprised. "It would be hypocritical of me to ask why you are here, I believe, when the same thoughts have occupied my mind since Minerva has told me that, in the process of delivering an admittance letter, she has met an orphaned girl who bore an eerie resemblance to my late niece."

"You don't know the half of it, old man." Dante said grimly. "She's a demon."

"Yes." said Dumbledore. "I know."

"You... know?" Dante stared at him in complete disbelief. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I assumed you would have found out." Dumbledore said evenly. "And I was right, it seems. Perceptive as always, my boy."

Dante shook his head in frustration. "Uncle Albus... what if she's my sister?"

Dumbledore gazed at him over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Sit down, Dante. Let me tell you what I know of your parents' whereabouts in the year Patricia was born."

Resisting the urge to growl in annoyance, Dante walked over to Dumbledore and took the seat opposite him.

"I'll tell you of the only incident I can remember that was out of the ordinary." Dumbledore began. "You were four and a half, if I remember correctly. There was unrest in the underworld, according to Sparda. Of course, he didn't leave to put an end to it until two years later. That said, more and more gates to the underworld opened all over the country, and once a few of them opened close to your home. Sparda was gone for a week that time, trying to close them. Eva was left alone at home with the two of you, but not without protection - the house was warded so that if any demon breached the ward, your father would be immediately notified.

"On returning, Sparda contacted me to say that Eva was suffering from a memory charm. She couldn't remember what she had been doing for an entire day. The two of you could tell us nothing out of the ordinary save that she had had a human visitor who didn't stay long, but then, at that time you spent all day sparring in the gardens with your wooden swords."

"We were brats." Dante said darkly. Dumbledore chuckled softly.

"In hindsight, completely normal actions might seem criminally wrong." he said. "You were children, and acted accordingly."

"So," Dante steered the conversation back on track, "Your information isn't very reassuring, old man."

"No? Not even the fact that Eva's mysterious visitor couldn't have been a demon? How can young Patricia be a demon if neither of her parents are?"

Dante stiffened immediately. "Watch what you're saying."

"What I am saying is that any accusation we might level against Eva will be completely baseless." Dumbledore said calmly.

Dante made a face. "Whatever. So she can't be my sister, is that what you're saying?"

"No." Dumbledore said. "I am suggesting nothing of the sort. There are ways, in the demon world, to grow a baby using bits from parents. It may be blood, or parts of skin, but Eva's visitor had time to get it. Sparda's blood, while more difficult, could have been obtained from his injuries during battle, which means the two of you could, in fact, be siblings, but that would in turn suggest that Patricia was raised by demons. This," said Dumbledore, as Dante opened his mouth, "Could be one of the possibilities. The other, of course, is that she is a demon with a likeness to your mother being used to lure those close to Eva into a trap. It could all be a coincidence, I suppose, but you understand why I do not entertain that very slim possibility. We cannot afford to be off our guard."

"You're saying she could be my sister, or that she's out to get me, or both." Dante leaned back in his chair, taking a moment to digest this. "With my luck? It's gotta be both."

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but Dante interrupted him this time.

"But what if she is my sister?" he said. "I feel like I'm abandoning her if..."

"She is more than capable of handling herself." Dumbledore said, his eyes suddenly hard. "I understand how you might feel about her, Dante, but do not let yourself form an emotional bond with her. Her entire purpose of existence may be to lead you to your death."

Dante pursed his lips and said nothing.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Understand that your life is far more valuable than you consider it to be." he said. "Do this for your grandfather and I, if not for yourself."

"Right." Dante said quietly. Much as he hated to admit it, Dumbledore had a point. "Fine. I'll try. And about that, why did you appoint that toad of a woman to teach us if you care so much?"

"Ah, that was quite out of my hands." said Dumbledore. "You see, the Ministry appointed her because I was unable to find a Defense teacher this year."

Dante gaped at him. "Why would they do that?"

"Due to Cornelius' persistence in believing that I am raising an army of students to take his office for myself. If I am not quite mistaken, she will completely refuse to teach you to perform spells."

"Great." Dante said with a yawn.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Then may I bid you good-night, Dante? You have classes tomorrow, surely?"

"Yeah." Dante stood from his chair. "Goodnight, old man."

* * *

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	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. I'm sorry for the huge delay in updating this time. Hope you like the chapter!**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

"Just four? What, they couldn't fit all of them?"

"Shh." said Ron. "You'll give McGonagall ideas."

Dante yawned, rolling up his class schedule. "Somehow I doubt she didn't think of it."

"What are you on about?" said Hermione. "You love these classes! Except for History… it's Potions, and DADA, and you didn't take Divination, did you?"

"Nah." said Dante. "Not my thing. Ancient Runes."

"And that's your thing?" Harry asked.

"Hermione's. She's been giving me big tomes since third year: figured I may as well put them to use."

"Don't expect me to do your homework." Hermione warned him. "I know you're perfectly capable."

"Hey, that's unfair! You do theirs!" Dante pointed at Harry and Ron.

"I correct them." Hermione said snidely.

"Whatever." Dante said, stifling another yawn half-heartedly.

"And I know for a fact you're very good at Potions." Hermione snapped. "So don't try to copy my essays-"

"You're not jealous, are you?" Dante smirked.

"No." Hermione scoffed. "I just don't think it's fair that you can do these things if you just pay attention, but refuse to-"

"Trust me," Dante interrupted her, "I can say about Potions, at least - having Snape's attention is not something to be jealous of. Ask Harry."

"That's right," snapped Harry, "I'm the expert on unwanted attention. Look at me getting dragged into ridiculous arguments!"

Hermione looked shocked and hurt; while Dante turned suddenly intense eyes on Harry, who responded by pushing his plate away and storming off.

"He's been like that all summer." said Ron, staring after him.

"He's got a lot on his plate." said Hermione. "That's no excuse, though."

"Guy's only going to make himself more miserable if he keeps this up." Dante commented offhandedly.

"And us." Ron added.

"Yes," said Hermione. "I understand he's under a lot of stress, but that's no reason to take it out on us."

"Seconded." said Ron.

"Thirded." said Dante, to Hermione's eye roll.

* * *

The first class, History of Magic, was as boring as ever. Taught by a ghost named Binns, it was about as dull as it was possible to be, and Dante fell asleep again, while Ron and Harry played games on pieces of paper.

Potions turned out to be as much a joy as usual. Which was saying a lot, Dante thought to himself as he absently stirred his potion, in perfect rhythm and in perfect direction, as he simultaneously chopped up ingredients with the knife held in his other hand.

"Mr. Sparda!"

Dante didn't stay his hand, knowing full well that Snape intended to do precisely that - make him stop stirring and mess up the potion. "Yeah?"

"5 points will be taken for being careless with provided ingredients."

Dante twirled his knife in his left hand, still without stopping his right hand, and before anyone could blink, let it fly out of his hand and towards the blackboard, where it lodged itself in between instructions four and five, the steps that Dante was doing right then.

"Oops." he said with a smirk. "Now you can take points."

* * *

"I can't believe you got detention on the first day of class!"

"Well worth it." Dante told Hermione. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"I wouldn't put it past Snape to give you a zero just out of spite." Ron muttered. "Like he did to Harry."

"I would." Dante shrugged. "He knows I don't give a damn."

Defense Against the Dark Arts was nothing short of terrible. By the time Umbridge had assigned them reading, Dante was about ready to drift off again. Hermione raised her hand as soon as the professor had finished talking, and Dante blinked blearily at her.

"What?"

Hermione nodded towards the board but said nothing. The course objectives were written on the board. Dante glanced at it, read it through, and looked at Umbridge.

"No practical magic, then?"

Umbridge turned to look at him. "Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr.?"

"Dante's fine. And you ignore raised hands, so I figured I'd skip the routine." Dante said with a shrug. "So we won't use magic, right?"

"Shut up!" Hermione hissed at him. Dante ignored her, but he was a little surprised at how urgent she sounded.

"Ten points from Gryffindor." Professor Umbridge said, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Now, dear, these curriculums were approved by the Ministry, and I see no need of objection. They were written by much wiser wizards and witches, who clearly felt no need to have sweet children like you practice spells in class that are only used for defending against attack."

"So defending against dark arts will be done by what, reciting theory at them? I gotta say, that's a good plan. They'll be snoring before you can say 'Stupify'!"

A muffled chorus of laughter rang through the class. Professor Umbridge's eyes were horribly wide, reminding of a toad more than ever.

"Detention, Mr. Sparda." She said softly. "As I was-"

"Seriously? I'm just providing some much-needed entertainment!" Dante smirked, ignoring Hermione tugging on his sleeve. "You're just a joy sucker, aren't you? Kind of like a dementor, but… dementoad, really."

This time, gasps were the prominent sound. Umbridge turned an ugly shade of pink, her eyes bulging.

"What what you're saying!" she said shrilly.

"Whew." Dante put a finger to his ear. "Neither dementors nor toads are that loud. Which side of the family could you get it from? Your grandparents weren't pigs by any chance? That'd explain the love of pink things too!"

Someone made a choking noise, somewhat like a balloon deflating. That seemed to act like some kind of chain reaction, and a few more of these sounds came from corners of the room. Less than a minute later, students were pressing their hands over their mouths to muffle their laughter.

The only one not grinning ear to ear was Hermione. She looked extremely apprehensive.

"Come here, dear." Umbridge said. Her face matched the shade of her pink cardigan.

"It's Dante." he reminded her. As he made his way over to the desk, Umbridge wrote something down on a piece of paper and sealed it up.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall." she said with a twisted smile.

* * *

"I hoped to have a few more days before this meeting, Mr. Sparda." Professor McGonagall said with a tight lipped grimace.

"Come on, someone with THAT kind of fashion sense? You can't expect me to go easy on her, can you?"

"Mr. Sparda," McGonagall folded the letter and set it to one side. Leaning forward, she said, "You need to be very careful. You are in a precarious position as it is. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what happens if it's determined that you're more trouble than you're worth."

Dante scoffed. "Don't give me that. They know they need me for-"

"And what happens if- as we all should hope- the year goes by without any further demonic incident? Would they still be certain if the only thing they notice about you is you degrading their representative at Hogwarts?"

Dante opened his mouth and closed it again. "Much as I hate to admit it," he said finally, "You're right."

"Professor Umbridge will be determined to find faults with you." Professor McGonagall said coolly. "Do your best not to give her that opportunity. I don't want to hear another complaint from her about you, do you understand?"

When Dante didn't respond immediately, she added, "If her employers decide to take action, I'm afraid not even Professor Dumbledore can help you this time."

"You're starting to sound like gramps." Dante muttered. "Ok, fine, I get it."

Professor McGonagall eyed him shrewdly.

"Here," she said, "Have a biscuit."

"Three." Dante said morosely.

"Fine." she said irritably, thrusting the tin at him. Dante took the biscuits and got up to leave.

"I'm sure Miss Granger already informed you of Professor Umbridge's position in the ministry?"

"Yeah." he said. "Don't worry, I'll listen to Hermione – sometimes. In the extreme cases."

"I suppose that's the best we can ask from you." Professor McGonagall admitted. Then her features softened. "Welcome back, Mr. Sparda."

* * *

Hermione was the first one to find him after class, as he sat by the lake watching- and occasionally annoying – the giant squid.

"What did Professor McGonagall say?" she asked as they made their way towards the Great Hall.

"She said Umbridge's given me detention every weekdays this month." said Dante.

"For the whole month!" Hermione repeated, looking horrified.

"Relax; I've had worse. And McGonagall said I should keep my head down."

"Yes, you should." said Hermione, but she was looking surprised. "You will, then?"

"I guess. Gramps did tell me to be more careful. I could try - a little."

"It's only one class, after all." Hermione said, appearing very relieved. "I'm glad you understand."

Dante shrugged and changed the subject. "So what happened after I left class?"

"Harry got detention." said Hermione. "It was this awful thing – he got up and started talking about You-Know-Who and how he saw him come back, and then things turned to Cedric-"

Dante whistled. "Umbridge must've loved that."

"She called Harry a liar and asked everyone else to report to her if anyone else talked about You-Know Who coming back. And others asked questions too, but that was more about the course aims." Hermione admitted. "She won't let any of us practice any spell in class – she says as long as we can study the theory hard enough we should have no trouble with performing the spells in our exams." She broke off and narrowed her eyes. "You didn't seem too surprised in class."

"That's 'cause I wasn't. The ministry thinks teaching students spells could backfire on them."

Hermione digested this with wide eyes. "You mean we could try to overthrow them?" she exclaimed. "That's-that's mad! Professor Dumbledore would never-"

"There you go." Dante said with a wry smile. "They think Dumbledore wants to be Minister."

Hermione sat in horrified silence for a few moments. "Then why would he let that horrible woman come here?"

"He didn't. The Ministry appointed her."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "How do you know all this - you went up to Professor Dumbledore's office again, didn't you?"

"Yep." Dante said, smiling. "So…you gonna help me out with homework now? Somehow I don't think I'll have a lot of time after detention."

"Isn't it from early evening?" said Hermione. "You'll have plenty of time; don't try to skive off."

Dante sighed. "What kind of a friend are you?"

"The kind that wants you to use your talents." she said promptly. "You won't learn anything if you copy off me."

"Fine, fine." Dante held up his hands. "Will you at least check my works over?"

Hermione relented with a smile. "Sure." she said.

* * *

They joined Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked furious, Ron looked sullen. The reason was possibly the whispers of the students, debating about Harry's argument with Umbridge.

Dante had to give Harry credit; it was about halfway through dinner when Harry finally broke his silence.

"What I don't get, is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them…" he said through clenched teeth.

"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did." Hermione said grimly. "Oh, let's get out of here." She slammed down her cutlery, and they all took the cue to leave the hall.

"What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.

"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened," said Hermione quietly. "You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body. . . . None of us saw what happened in the maze. . . . We just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you."

"Which is the truth!" said Harry loudly.

"I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?" said Hermione wearily. "It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!"

Harry remained gloom for the rest of the walk. Once they were inside the common room, Hermione filled Harry and Ron in on Dumbledore's views on Umbridge. Needless to say, none of them really cheered up after hearing it.

"What time's your detention?" Dante asked Harry.

"Five." said Harry. "What time's yours?"

"Five." said Dante.

"Early evening, then?" Hermione said encouragingly. "You'll both be back on time to get some sleep."

"Depends on how long she's keeping us." Harry said.

* * *

Next morning's Charms class ended up the first successful Charms lesson Dante had had in, well, ever.

"Summoning charm and Shield charms were the first things I learned from Uncle Albus." he confided to Hermione. "Y'know, if you're going to learn one wandless charm, it should be the one to get the wand back."

Then he summoned their target with a flick of his wrist.

"Oh!" exclaimed Professor Flitwick. "Marvelous! Take ten points for Gryffindor, Mr. Sparda!"

Hermione did not speak to him for the remainder of the lesson.

Transfiguration was as good as usual; he managed the vanishing spell on the first try and spent the rest of the class teaching Hermione how to do it non-verbally. Care of Magical Creatures was alright, and so was Herbology. Dante spent most of the class copying Neville, who was the best in their class at Herbology. Neville, glowing with pride, taught him all he could about the lesson they were in, so that when Professor Sprout gave them an essay as homework, Dante was quite sure he'd manage an 'Acceptable' at least.

By the time they had finished dinner, Harry was looking about ready to drop. Dante felt a little concerned; even though he didn't admit it. If there was a group task, he thought he would try and do most of the work, take some of the extra burden off Harry. His superhuman stamina was rather going to waste.

The detention Umbridge gave them left little room for that. As Dante sat opposite Harry, writing the lines 'I must not disrespect my elders' over and over again and watching it cutting into the back of his hand, he had rarely felt as useless, as helpless to protect someone. He had a feeling Umbridge had intended it that way, and deliberately scheduled their detentions together for just that purpose.

A sudden snap! echoed through the room; looking down, Dante saw that he had broken the tip of his quill. Harry looked up from his parchment for a brief moment before he returned to his task.

"Looks like I'll need another quill." Dante said to Umbridge. "Why don't I use Harry's?"

Harry snapped his head up, his eyes wide.

"Oh no," said Umbridge, with a wide smile, handing him another quill. "Here you are. We must cease these displays of temper, Mr. Sparda, don't you think? Another one of these types of incident and I just might have to keep you two for another hour."

Harry was shaking his head at him. Biting his tongue hard to keep the scathing retort at bay, Dante returned to his writing, trying his best to ignore Umbridge's vindictive smirk.

* * *

"You go on." Dante said to Harry after they had come out of Umbridge's office. "There's something I need to do."

"Don't go to Dumbledore." Harry said immediately.

Dante smirked. "I'm not. But that reminds me: you don't mind if I use your Cloak, right?"

* * *

By the time the next detention came about, Dante was looking particularly self-satisfied. Hermione and Ron had noticed too, and Hermione tried to pry the reason out of him, to no avail.

"Let's just say Umbridge isn't a very happy woman at the moment." he said simply, grinning.

The reason became clear when they reached Umbridge's office. Umbridge was frantically searching her desk drawers.

"Something missing, professor?" Dante asked her politely.

"The quills!" she snapped, and she didn't sound quite as sweet as usual. "You!" she snarled then, and even Harry thought Dante was looking a little too innocent. "What have you done?"

"Me?" Dante put a hand to his chest. "Professor, if I, a student, can sneak past the DADA professor, what does that say about you?"

Harry suppressed a snort.

Umbridge was shaking with anger. "I'll sort you out, mark my words." she hissed. "I'll have the new quills ready tomorrow, and then-"

"But Professor," Dante objected immediately, "I have a detention with Filch tomorrow. Professor Dumbledore assigned it, he gave you this letter..." and he produced a sealed roll of parchment and handed it to Umbridge, who unfurled it and began to read, her cheeks darkening with anger as she did.

"Possession of illegal dangerous artefact?" she stated finally.

"Yeah, Filch caught me with them. He took the things straight to Dumbledore. It wasn't illegal until yesterday, but it's illegal now..." Did Dante just wink at Umbridge? "Dumbledore banned its use in Hogwarts. He said it's dark magic."

Umbridge stared at Dante in stunned silence. When she spoke, her voice was quivering with rage.

"Day after tomorrow, Sparda. Report to my office." she said. "As for Mr. Potter, you will serve the rest of your detention with Mr. Filch. Dismissed."

They left grinning in triumph.

"Neat." said Harry. "How'd you find the quills?"

"Accioed them." Dante responded, grinning broadly. "Blood quills on a student - Filch only wanted to ban them for students, but Uncle Albus banned their use by anyone at Hogwarts."

"Nicely done." said Harry, laughing. He felt like a huge weight had lifted off his chest. Filch was horrible, but compared to Umbridge, he was a walk in the park.

Speaking of which... his stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch. Umbridge had summoned Dante to her office again. He was sure that meant nothing good.

Dante noticed his sudden shift in mood. "What?"

Harry shrugged, not wanting to spoil the triumphant moment. "Nothing. C'mon, looks like I'll actually manage to get some homework done tonight..."

* * *

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 **AnotherGuest: Thank you! That's a huge compliment, as I found them both very hard to write. As for Trish, you'll have to wait and see!**

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	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I have no excuses for the delay. Hope the somewhat longer chapter makes up for it! Thanks to everyone who has followed and/or favorited.**

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

 **Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four**

 **"The High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and removals of privileges as may have been placed by other staff members."**

"Nasty." Dean Thomas said to Ron.

"The timing can't be a coincidence." Hermione said thoughtfully. The High Inquisitor in question was Umbridge, according to Educational Decree Twenty-Three passed this very day. "Right after you two managed to ban her quill...You've got to wonder what she's got up her sleeve."

"I really don't want to." Ron said with a dramatic little shudder.

"Didn't you say you've got more detentions with her?" Harry said to Dante, who gave a noncomittal little shrug. Hermione turned around to stare at him.

"What," Dante said, "You don't think she made up this little rule of hers just for me?"

"No, but I think she put it into effect right now so she could do something bad in detention." Hermione said. She looked more than a little alarmed.

"Wow, that makes me feel all special."

"Will you be serious?" Hermione snapped.

"Nope." Dante said immediately. "Didn't you say you were going to check my works? I've got some problems with my moonstone essay."

"Alright." Hermione said after a moment of silence. "But be careful."

"Aren't I always."

* * *

The next day was filled with more difficult lessons and assignments. Dante and Harry hadn't done their homework, thanks to Filch's detention, resulting in more workload.

Detention with Umbridge was, unsurprisingly, horrible.

"I want you to write the lines I set you before." she said to Dante, indicating a chair drawn up for him to sit. She was looking ridiculously pleased with herself. "You remember it?"

"Yeah." he frowned down at the desk. "Kind of cheap, aren't you? First you don't give me any ink, and this time ink, quill and parchment's missing!"

"I see the lessons didn't sink in well." Umbridge said with a smile. "You won't need any of those, Mr. Sparda. You will use a knife, and you'll write on your arm. From what I understand, you heal fast, don't you? It will be much the same as your earlier punishment."

For a moment, Dante was stunned into silence. Umbridge smiled widely, pleased at the effect.

"Well? Better get started, hadn't we?"

"Nope."

Umbridge's smile widened. "What was that?"

"I won't do it." Dante said coolly. "You can't expel me. You people need me here or I wouldn't be here."

"Oh, I'm afraid you misunderstand. Only the headmaster has the power to expel students. Better go to him at once, then, shan't we?"

"Sure." said Dante. He had no doubt Dumbledore would take his side.

Wait. Dumbledore couldn't take his side... Umbridge was within her rights to give a detention like this. And as Dante was defying a direct ruling from the ministry, Dumbledore would either have to expel Dante, or face expulsion himself. Which was no doubt Umbridge's endgame... one that he wouldn't let happen.

"Give it." Dante said, holding out his hand for the knife.

* * *

When Dante came back, having tucked his sore arm back into his sleeve, it was to find what seemed to be their entire House's worth of students gathered in the common room. He found Hermione trying to calm the first years, but Ron and Harry were nowhere to be seen.

"What's happened?" he asked Dean.

"Someone got into our dormitory." said Dean. "Crookshanks was probably in the common room- he came up to our room. Raised a right ruckus, that cat...we all woke up. Whoever it was- they jumped straight out of the window!"

 _Not human?_ was the first thing that popped into Dante's mind. "Anyone find the body?"

"Ron's gone to the grounds to check."

"Anything missing?"

"Don't think so... we've all checked our stuff. I think they were after Harry's trunk... it was open, but Harry says it's all there."

 _The Invisibility Cloak!_

Dante could've kicked himself, but then again, he hadn't expected Vergil to resort to stealing. Come to think of it, he was nearly certain it couldn't have been Vergil. Did he have someone else working for him, then?

"Hermione?"

She looked harassed as she walked up to him, two first year girls in tow. "Yeah, hey- no, it doesn't happen all the time, Celeste...look, why don't you two go sit with Patricia until Ron and Harry comes back? Yes, that's right, thank you! Yes, Tony?"

"Were you waiting up?"

She flushed. "Yes." she said sheepishly. "But I dozed off... I didn't see anything. Thank God Crookshanks has more stamina."

"Yeah." said cat had walked up to them with a self-important aura. Dante obliged by absently patting him on the head. "Well, waiting up paid off, looks like. I'm touched, by the way."

"Oh, shut up." she said, briskly. "You know, whoever it was couldn't have made an attempt like that if you were in the room. You can't get anymore detentions. Be on your best behavior."

"Right." Dante made a face at the thought. "I doubt Ron will find anything. If they jumped out the window of the seventh floor-"

"I know." Hermione said grimly. "They would have to be _extraordinaire_."

'Extraordinaire' was the term they had decided to use for demons around others. Dante nodded back.

"Out of all the first years, Patricia seems to be handling it the best." Hermione said abruptly. "A little too well. An invasion, you'd have thought she'd be more worried."

"Maybe she hasn't figured out the part about the _extraordinaire_ yet." Dante glanced at the admittedly calm and collected girl sitting on the sofa near the corner. "Besides, she's bound to have some experience with fighting these things by now."

* * *

Ron, and later the professors' search turned up nothing to lead to any clue about the invader. In sharp contrast to the air of anxiety and concern of the other teachers, Umbridge seemed to have found some sort of treasure hoard. Over the next few days, she grilled the others about the progress they had made, and expressed 'concern' over the lack of security and flaw in methods of governing the school.

"Look at her." Ron said in a low voice as they passed her in the corridor, "Bet you she wishes she had thought of breaking into the dormitory first..."

"If she hadn't done it in the first place," said Harry.

"Well, it discredited Professor Dumbledore, at any rate." Hermione said with a sigh. "It can't have been the ministry though... Tony's right, it had to have been an _extraordinaire_..."

In addition to Umbridge's sadistic detentions, the schoolwork was piling up. When the four of them weren't in class, they were cooped up in the common room buried in books and parchments, trying to finish the workload assigned. In Harry's case, he ended up not finishing a lot of his work. So did Dante, but he had to stay in detention much later than Harry and despite himself, started nodding off in many of his classes. This wasn't earning him any favor with the teachers. Snape looked positively shocked to find him half-asleep over his unevenly-cut roots, but didn't hesitate to take twenty points at once, and Professor McGonagall swooped down on him when he was caught napping at his desk. She assigned him additional practical work and told him to wait after class.

"How long is she keeping you up?" she said as soon as the door had shut behind the last Gryffindor.

Dante didn't have to ask who 'she' was. "Nearly dawn." he said truthfully, accepting the toad she handed him to Vanish. "But she's pulling all-nighters trying to discipline me, so I'm not complaining."

"She, unlike you, only has classes in the afternoon." Professor McGonagall said, eyeing him shrewdly over the top of her glasses. "What's the detention?"

"Lines."

She nodded, some of the tension easing off her face. "Very well."

Aberforth's words from the day school started popped into his head suddenly, and he found himself asking, "If it was, say, something worse, could you do something about it?"

McGonagall's answering gaze was sharp, but she responded evenly, "Unless it involves something expressly forbidden by existing rules, there's nothing to be done."

Dante shrugged to himself, Vanishing the toad with a flick of his wand. "That's all, then."

* * *

Harry's detention ended by the end of the week, but he got 50 points off his house for talking about Voldemort in Umbridge's class. There were no more break-ins.

Umbridge's class was undoubtedly the most boring thing they had to suffer through, including History of Magic. According to Harry, it was even worse than Gilderoy Lockhart's class, but then again Harry was a biased source of information, and so was Hermione who insisted that Lockhart's classes weren't that bad.

Hermione confided in Dante that she and Ron had asked Harry to teach Defense to them and anyone else who would be interested, and that Harry had agreed. She said she was going to ask people who might be interested.

"I know you're the best of our class at Defense." she said. "But... well... you haven't been in class for three years, and your talents are more... instinctive..."

"Whoa, Hermione, I'm not complaining." Dante said. He had to agree that it was a good idea.

The meeting was arranged for Hog's Head, in Hogsmeade, two weeks later.

* * *

The Hogsmeade weekend approached fast. The trip to Hogsmeade was the same as ever. Dante split from the group when they had reached the village, to warn Aberforth of the upcoming meeting.

"I told gramps to keep others out." Dante said when he had come back. "It should be clear by the time they all come."

"Excellent." said Hermione. "Well, let's go..."

They made their way to the Hog's Head in silence. Harry had met Aberforth before, but only once, and he remembered thinking the man couldn't have been less like his brother. Aberforth was quiet, with cold eyes that held an intensity rivaling Albus Dumbledore.

True to Dante's words, the pub was empty. Aberforth looked up from behind the counter and gave them a nod. His eyes became much warmer when they fell on Dante, who cheerfully waved. "Hello again, gramps. You got the butterbeers?"

Aberforth pointed them to a table near a corner. Four steaming glasses sat on it.

In a few minutes, the pub filled with more than twenty people, completely throwing Harry off-balance.

At first it seemed that they had only turned up to hear Harry's story, but after much debate, they agreed to take lessons from Harry. As for where they were going to meet, Dante suggested the Room of Requirement.

"The what?" Harry said blankly.

"It's a hidden room in the castle." Dante said. "It produces stuff for people who really needs it. I think it'll be good enough."

"Where is it?" Neville asked.

"You'll see when we get there." he smiled secretively. "After all, if not everyone in this room joins, it'll be a waste to divulge the location."

Hermione produced a parchment, on which the whole group signed their names agreeing not to tell Umbridge about the meeting, and then they all filed out.

"So how do you know about this room?" asked Ron, after they had taken their leave from Aberforth.

"That's the room I use to get into Hogwarts." said Dante. "One day I came to Hogwarts to meet Uncle Albus. He showed it to me. I asked it for a passage to Hogwarts from my room, so it provided. I'll show you the passage someday; gramps is fussed about not showing it, but I think it might come in handy."

* * *

The most exciting thing to happen since they came to Hogwarts happened during detention, Monday evening, on the last week of the month.

Dante looked up from his writing when a very familiar musical note reached his ears, followed by Fawkes swooping in through the open window. Umbridge jumped about a foot in the air.

"What-what is that doing here?" she cried, as the phoenix flew over her head, ignored Dante's extended hand and landed on his other arm. Large tears dripped on the healing cuts, closing them immediately.

"You can cry on cue?" Dante wondered, stroking the bird with his good hand. "Bet that comes in handy for treats!"

Fawkes hopped out from under his hand and flew back to the windowsil, trilling urgently. Dante stood and followed after it. He looked down towards the darkening grounds and immediately understood.

"What is it?" snapped Umbridge.

"Looks like someone threw a party and didn't invite me." Dante said lightly. "Rude. Get my sword, Fawkes. Time to make them pay for their rudeness!"

And he jumped out the window.

* * *

The demons turned out to be a large group of Prides. Dumbledore was there, along with McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout. They had created a wide circle of shields, which effectively contained the demons but also prevented any spells from reaching them.

Dante took his sword and guns from Fawkes as he walked towards the demons. There was no hurry to begin the fight, so might as well be prepared, he thought.

"Must we really, Albus?" McGonagall was saying to Dumbledore. "The last time he faced these things-"

"He has the most experience out of any of us, and he knows the risks." Dumbledore said gravely. "If you are ready," he said to Dante.

"You kidding? This is the best party I've seen this year!" Dante replied with a grin. "Might want to pull the walls up again when I'm on stage." he added to Snape, who was closest.

Someone sighed - possibly McGonagall - and Snape nodded shortly before he dropped the part of the shield right in front of Dante.

Dante extended his sword as he slid in through the gap, impaling two demons at once. There was a little flash as the shield went back up behind him. Dante pulled out his guns, charged them and fired at the demons. The bullets went through them and hit the shields, rebounding off and hitting more of the demons. Dante kept up a steady stream of shots, and within a minute, the ricocheting charged bullets had finished them all off, Dante himself managing to dodge them all.

Knowing he would look more than a little ridiculous, Dante got the next part over with quickly - slicing all of the bullets in halves so that they fell harmlessly on the ground. To any onlookers he would look like a person fighting thin air - which didn't sit well with him.

When he was done, he blew a kiss to his audience. McGonagall spluttered, while Sprout and Flitwick chuckled and Snape just looked bored. Dumbledore simply smiled.

"Well done, as always." he said.

"Hold your horses, old man." Dante told him. "There's the gate stil lying open for uninvited guests." he began charging his sword.

He didn't know if it was the detentions themselves or the lack of sleep, but he had put nowhere near the usual amount of energy he could pour into his sword when his vision went blurry and began to drift and swim, forcing him to actually grasp onto someone close enough for balance, which happened to be-

Trish?

He hadn't noticed her arrive. She easily held him upright and linked his hand with hers. He immediately felt stronger, more steady, as foreign energy thrummed through him.

"Hey, don't do that!" he exclaimed as demonic energy surged up and down his arms.

"You can't do it alone." she said, releasing his hand and giving him a smile. "Off you go."

Dante complied, slicing through the portal with Rebellion. The gate vanished as if it had never been there.

"Patricia," Dumbledore said, gently, "Go see Madam Pomfrey for a Strengthening Solution. Same for you, Dante."

"Mr. Sparda has just come from a detention." Snape cut in. "I believe it would be appropriate to have him return to it at once, Headmaster. The detention is with the High Inquisitor."

"I'll see to it that Professor Umbridge understands the situation." Dumbledore said, a little coolly. "You will not go back to detention tonight, Dante. You will return to your dormitory after you return from the infirmary."

Dante was certain he hadn't hidden his relief completely because of the intense look on Snape's face. As he passed him, Snape plucked something out of his pocket. Dante looked back and started - it was the knife he was using for detention. He hadn't realized when he had pocketed it. Blood still stained the tip.

"See me after you come back from Madam Pomfrey." Snape told him in a low voice.

* * *

Getting through the sea of students gathered in the entrance hall proved to be no easy feat. Dante imagined that had to be what celebrities felt like when they were surrounded by reporters.

Madam Pomfrey met him and Trish at the foot of the stairs.

"Demons!" she hissed, grabbing both of them by their elbows and marching them along the staircases. "Never- in all my years - are you two hurt?"

"No." Trish said. "Professor Dumbledore wanted us to get Strengthening Solutions."

"Quite right he was!" she said. Dante realized she was trembling slightly. "I never thought You-Know-Who would go this far... new low, even for him-"

"Oh, I don't think Voldemort did this." said Trish. Madam Pomfrey flinched.

Dante turned to stare at her. "How'd you figure that?"

"Voldemort isn't this powerful, and he's got no reason." Trish said as if it were obvious. "It must be a demon lord."

"Demon...lord?" Madam Pomfrey said faintly. Her face had drained of what little color it had left.

"What reason would a demon lord have?" Dante countered.

Trish smiled a little. "Come on, Dante, you know better than to ask that."

"Nope. Enlighten me."

"What more reason is needed than a son of Sparda?"

Dante froze in his tracks.

"No way." he said. His heart was hammering in his chest. "They wouldn't send these low level demons if-"

"Strong links to human world aren't easy to establish." Trish said with a one-shouldered shrug. "Something to think about, wouldn't you say?"

Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to intervene. "That's enough of that nonsense." she said, thin-lipped. "Leave these discussions to the professors. What you two need is rest."

The rest of the way to the infirmary was spent in tense silence.

* * *

"Could she be right?"

Snape eyed him over his desk. "Yes." he said.

"Right." Dante rubbed his forehead with his hand. It seemed Sparda's legacy was bound to haunt him forever. "Right..."

"There isn't, of course, any way to be certain."

"Yeah." Dante felt all but sure, however. Why else would a demon-lord attack the school - twice - the very same year Dumbledore wanted to bring him back? Well, so much for his heroic defense of the school, if he was the reason students were endangered in the first place...

"Whatever the reason," Snape's look was intense, "we need you here."

"I'm not gonna run off or anything!" Dante said indignantly.

"Good. Now, the knife."

Dante stiffened. "Which one?"

"Don't act stupid. It's unbecoming."

"That your way of saying I'm smart? I'm flattered."

"What was a blood-stained knife doing in your pocket?"

The look Snape was giving him left no room to wriggle out of answering. Dante figured he might as well speak the truth. Snape was the teacher least likely to report it to Dumbledore, and he was also the most likely to have suggestions to improve the situation.

"Umbridge's detention is to write lines with a knife on my arm."

Snape drew in a sharp breath, his eyes going very wide. "Have you told this to anyone?"

"No."

"I see." Snape said, slowly. "Well, well... quite a predicament you've found yourself in." he paused. "I'm afraid I can't offer you a solution."

Dante said nothing. It wasn't surprising to know there was no way out, but it was still disappointing.

"Umbridge must not be above using the Cruciatus." Snape said quietly, watching him. "Be careful. If she thinks it is necessary and that she can get away with it, she _will_ use it."

"Will she?" Dante said, idly. "There's an idea..."

Snape frowned. "What?"

"If we can somehow make her think it's necessary, she'll use the curse, and someone can walk in and get her sent off to Azkaban..."

"No." Snape said coldly. "You are not subjecting yourself to the Cruciatus. It's pain beyond your imagination- yes, I'm fully aware of your experience in that area."

Dante was about to protest, but his promise to Aberforth popped into his head again, and he found himself saying, "Fine." But that brought him to...

"You ever experienced one of those?"

Snape stiffened noticeably. "Once."

"It was Uncle Tom, wasn't it?" Dante frowned. "Why would anyone follow that guy anyway?"

"The Dark Lord doesn't go around casting arbitrary Cruciatus on his followers." Snape said coolly. "Most of his followers has never, and will never, experience it. The circumstances in my case was... rather unique."

"Yeah? Do tell."

Snape eyed him appraisingly, as if debating whether to answer or not. "Quirrell." he said finally, shortly.

Oh. "But you told him you didn't know, right?"

"I wouldn't have left that place alive if I hadn't."

"Yeah." Dante grimaced. "Your job's no fun."

Snape's eyes glinted. "It has its perks."

"You get to taunt Sirius." Dante snorted.

"Indeed." Snape said loftily. Dante shook his head disapprovingly, but couldn't keep the grin from his face for long.

* * *

Dante came back to common room to find Ron and Hermione waiting up for him.

"What happened?" said Ron. "Whole school's going mad - reckon the true story can't be as terrible as you facing down the Emperor of demons himself-"

"Did a portal really open, though?" said Hermione.

"Yeah." Dante answered Hermione. "Sorry to disappoint, Ron - just a group of Prides."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look.

"What?" said Dante.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Tony, this time the portal opened on the grounds, at night. What's to say next time it won't open in front of students? Some may get hurt - or even die - before you can come and help."

"I thought about that." Dante admitted. "But what's your point?"

"Point is - " Ron began, "We think we ought to know a bit about fighting these things too."

"We need someone to teach us." said Hermione. "And who better than you?"

Dante blinked. "You want me - to teach you."

Ron and Hermione both nodded firmly. "Yes." said Hermione. "We were thinking you could teach us during DA sessions."

"Professor Dante. How's it sound?" Dante snorted. "Ridiculous. Well, as long as I don't have to grade papers... on one condition." he paused for dramatic effect. "I want Trish in the group."

"She's a first year." Hermione said immediately.

"Yeah, but she's got experience fighting demons. So?"

"You can ask her, of course." said Hermione anxiously. "But I still think she'll be hard pressed to catch up with us."

"Okay. And I'm in."

* * *

Trish agreed easily, and accepted the parchment Hermione gave her, signing her name with a flourish.

"Can you show me where you meet?" she asked Dante.

"Nope." Dante said with a shrug. "Got my schedule full with detentions and stuff. You'll see when Hermione calls you all."

The last detention on Friday was by far the worst. Umbridge kept him up the entire night, being frustrated to no end by the fact that Dante's healing was showing no sign of working slower. For his part, Dante kept his head down to keep the smirk hidden as he wrote methodically. He was beginning to tire, but he would take a sword to the chest before he showed any weakness to Umbridge.

When the east sky began to lighten, Dante glanced up to see Umbridge dozing in her chair.

He considered putting the knife down, but decided against it. It would be just like the poisonous toad to assign him more detentions because of slacking off.

 _I must not be disrespectful to my elders._

 _I must not be disrespectful to my elders..._

When the sunlight was shining through the window, Umbridge started awake.

"Hem, hem." she said. Her eyes rested on Dante's form, writing obediently, and a scowl graced her face.

"Come over and show me your hand."

Dante put aside the dripping knife and went to stand before her. He held out his arm. The bloody words disappeared before her very eyes, leaving the skin as smooth as ever.

Dante resisted a smile. Umbridge stared at his arm as if it had personally offended her. In her twisted world, it probably had.

"You may go." she said finally.

"Good day, professor." Dante told her with a small bow, like the ones given after a performance, and left the room.

He came back to the dormitory to find that everyone had left for breakfast. He went to his own bed, pulled back the covers and fell into a deep sleep.

He woke when the sun was low in the west horizon. On his way down, he met Hermione in the common room.

"Ron and Harry said you didn't sleep at night." she said. "So I didn't wake you, but I was just about to."

"Good call." Dante said groggily.

"She kept you up all night?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Yeah, but at least that's over." Dante said honestly.

Hermione's eyes narrowed, but she only said, "Come on, let's go down to the kitchen. We have a meeting tonight, remember? You'll need your strength."

* * *

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	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Again, sorry for the delay! Would you believe me if I said I'd completely forgotten about this story? Well, it's true! Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Counting Trish, the members of the DA added up to an even thirty. And all thirty were now gathered in the Room of Requirement, waiting for Hermione to say whatever it was she planned to say.

"Er... Hello." Hermione began, "I think we all know that there's been a demon attack last week- and I had the idea that maybe it would help to, you know, have some training... that is, learn some spells to counter demon attacks."

"Do spells work against demons?" Hannah Abott asked, and although she asked the question to Hermione, her eyes were fixed on Dante.

"Er... some spells do." said Hermione. "See, that's why I thought we'd ask Dante to train us in these stuff... because we know practically nothing about demons," - "We've got one right here", said Zacharius Smith, and Hermione ignored him - "and Dante fights them a lot, so... If another attack happens, there's no telling when and where it would happen - so we need to prepare ourselves." she finished.

All eyes had shifted to Dante, who after a moment or two, finally stepped up.

"I don't think you lot really need me for this." he said with a shrug. "In short: if you come up against a demon less than your size, try to kill it. If about your size or a little bigger, try to stall it. If bigger than that, run like hell."

There was a series of nervous chuckles.

"Is that what you do?" Zacharius said rudely.

"You can't do what I do." Dante said with a raised eyebrow. "Half-demon, remember?"

When Zacharius didn't answer, Dante went on, "Most of you already know some spells to harm a demon. The severing charm can kill humans, same for really low ranked demons. Be sure to aim properly and for its neck, though, or all you'll do is piss them off. Confringo's good for stalling. All it does is blasting them out of the way, though, so if you can't run, don't use it. The Reductor Curse crushes bones, so again, if you're using it, aim for the throat."

"What if it doesn't have one?" Luna Lovegood asked senerely.

Dante blinked. "Good question. Chances are, if it doesn't have a throat, it's not a low-ranked demon, so run like hell. No visible weaknesses, no viable chance of taking it on. The last resort is a shield charm... most demons are extremely dumb so it might physically stall them. I'll try and familiarize you all with the basic types of demons - it won't be anything like Hagrid's class though-" he added at seeing all the ashen faces and got a few smiles for his effort, "Nope, it'll be worse."

"You're going to bring demons here?" Susan Bones exclaimed.

"How else am I supposed to train you?" Dante retorted. "If you don't want me to, say the word and I'll call it quits."

No one spoke, but they did exchange fearful glances.

"Don't worry," Dante spread his hands, "I'll handle them... at first."

"You're joking!" said Fred.

"Trust me, alright? For now, just work on the spells I talked about - Harry'll help you do them. Aim is really important, so I asked the room to get you some targets -" he gestured to the hundreds of boards propped up on one side of the room. "To get started."

There was silence for a few moments.

"Right," Harry said at last. "We'll start with the shield charm - it can be of use in duels and against demons, so... let's divide into pairs, like the last meeting..."

The newest member, Trish, took to charms like a fish took to water. Dante, who couldn't produce a decent shield to save his life - literally - partnered her, casting spells at her that she used shields to deflect. Her shield wasn't very decent, but it was amazing for a first year.

When the practice ended, Trish hung back from the rest of the group, saying she needed to check something. Dante left with Hermione, Harry and Ron, but they hadn't gotten very far when Trish caught up to them with an old looking tiara in her hand.

"Dante," she said, "Which way to the Headmaster's office?"

The half demon stared at the tiara in her hand. It radiated dark energy. It wasn't demonic... exactly, but it was definitely magical, and definitely dark.

"Where'd you find it?"

"Room of Requirement." she said. "Come up with me to the office and I'll explain everything."

"We'll go too." said Hermione. She was eyeing Trish with a suspicious look on her face.

"It's nearly curfew. I'm sure Dante will tell you everything you need to know." Trish assured her. "Dante, are you coming?"

Dante hesitated for just a moment.

"Sure. Let's go." he said.

* * *

If Dumbledore was surprised at seeing the two of them, he didn't show it. "Please, come in." he said. "Lemon drop?"

Dante declined; he wasn't too fond of the sweets. Trish took one and seemed to like it.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I found Ravenclaw's diadem." said Trish, placing the tiara on the table. "It's one of Voldemort's horcruxes."

The sentences might as well have been foreign language to Dante. Dumbledore, on the other hand, straightened in his chair, looking alert and alarmed. "Are you certain?" he said, looking from Trish to the tiara on the table.

"Quite." she said.

"Whoa, back up. What's a horcrux?" Dante interrupted.

Dumbledore was staring at Trish intently. "I'd very much like to know where you have acquired this information."

"It's a long story." Trish said, licking her fingers. "Which part do you want to start with?"

"Horcrux, I guess?" said Dante. "Short version, please."

"It's a fragment of a soul." Trish said calmly. "Lord Voldemort made seven horcruxes. I happen to have information on five of them."

"Okay, how?"

"I used to be a servant of the demon Emperor." said Trish.

Dante stared at her. "But you're eleven!"

"Age matters little in the underworld." she said. "Mundus created me to be a replica of your mother. He's planning to return to the human world once again."

Mundus... return... The words repeated itself over and over in his head. Dante was vaguely aware that he'd backed away from her and that Dumbledore was looking at him in concern.

It had been Mundus who'd ordered the attack that killed Eva and separated him and Vergil. The highest ranked demon in the underworld, Mundus was the demon Sparda had served right up to the point where he'd turned against him. As the demon emperor, it stood to reason that Mundus had been the one to finally end the Dark Knight.

Mundus was the one being Dante could claim to hate with his very soul.

"...he wants you eliminated," Trish was saying, "My job was to make you trust me and lure you to Mundus, so he sent me to this school. He's the one opening the hell gates, so that you stay in this school. If you do, I can remain in close contact with you and eventually establish a friendship."

"So why did you turn, and why should we trust you?" Dante heard himself ask.

"Mundus is merciless, even to his followers." she said. "I overheard him telling a lieutenant that he'd dispose of me once I killed you. You can see my memories if you don't believe me. Besides, this world is beautiful. I fell in love with it. I don't want Mundus to destroy it. If you die, no one will stand in his way."

Dante narrowed his eyes but didn't comment. "How'd you find out about the location of the horcruxes?"

"Voldemort used very dark magic to hide one of the horcruxes. Mundus found out. He ordered the horcrux brought to him. Once Mundus got his hands on the horcrux, he extracted the soul fragment, placed it into a body and found the location of the rest of the horcruxes. He wants the horcruxes destroyed, so that another Dark Lord may not stand in his way when he returns."

Dante didn't see why Mundus would bother, frankly. Possibly he was over-estimating Voldemort? Then again, an immortal person could be an unnecessary hassle that Mundus didn't want to face.

"As for me," Trish went on, "I know because I was the one who extracted the memories from the soul fragment."

"How?"

"The Emperor created me using a dark ritual involving Eva's blood." she said. "She was proficient at Legillimency and Charms, so I used to handle interrogation."

"Why didn't you come forward earlier?" Dumbledore asked. He was studying Trish intently.

"I assumed the horcruxes had been found and destroyed already." she said. "But today I decided to check, and I found this. We destroyed the horcrux from which I extracted the memories, but I suppose the others are intact. I want Lord Voldemort destroyed just as much as you do. Even if you don't believe me, at least check the rest of the locations and see if you find them."

"I see." Dumbledore said quietly. "You've done well to come to me with this. May I see the memory where you report the information?"

"Sure." said Trish. She walked over to the pensieve and extracted a silvery thread from her temple. She dropped it in the basin.

Dumbledore beckoned to Dante, and together they dived into the pensieve.

* * *

Dante found himself in a great hall made entirely of white stone. There was an enormous statue in front of him, and three eyes glowed where the head should be.

Before the statue stood Trish, her face impassive and upturned towards the statue. Her expressionless features seemed completely out of place on such a young face.

"Well?" said a booming voice.

"Master, Lord Voldemort made six horcruxes." she said. "One has already been destroyed. The rest of them are - A diadem concealed at Hogwarts, in a room called the Room of Requirement; a snake Voldemort keeps close at all times; a cup hidden in his father's house. At the time he has made the horcrux we found, he was planning on making another, but has not yet made it."

"And I myself destroyed the horcrux we found." Mundus mused. "Very well, you may go. This is no longer your concern. Focus on your primary objective. Bring me Sparda's son."

"Yes, master." said Trish.

Dumbledore placed a light hand on Dante's arm. "Come." he said. "There's nothing more to see here."

* * *

When they came out of the pensieve, Trish was finishing up the last of her lemon drops. Dante found himself wishing she would look a little more contrite about her previous loyalty. Weren't repentant people supposed to look more... repentant?

Then again, maybe she didn't look more regretful because she hadn't actually done anything wrong...

"Can you tell us of the protection spells surrounding his horcruxes?" said Dumbledore.

"Yes." said Trish. She was licking her fingers again. "I can tell you, but it would be easier to just show you. You probably won't be able to get the cup at all. Only someone who speaks Parseltongue can get in."

"That was very clever of Tom." Dumbledore mused. "And fortunate for us. Dante, would you terribly mind fetching Harry from the Gryffindor tower?"

"You got it." Dante told him, and left.

He had to duck behind a suit of armor for a few minutes to avoid Filch, but other than that, his late night excursion went unnoticed.

He found Harry, Ron and Hermione in the common room, working on their essays. Well, Ron and Harry were working on their essays; from the look of it, Hermione was writing a letter.

All three looked up at his entrance. "Well?" said Ron. "What'd the midget want?"

"To kill me, apparently." Dante said offhandly.

"What?!"

Several people turned their heads at Ron's exclamation. Dante waited until they had gone back to whatever they were doing before he said, "But apparently that's off the agenda. Now she wants to kill Uncle Tom. And Uncle Albus says he wants you up in his office, Harry."

"Does he? Well, that's considerate of him after he's spent all summer avoiding me." Harry said sarcastically.

Dante shrugged. "Hey, I'm just the messenger."

"Where's Patricia now?" Hermione asked.

"She's over at Uncle Albus's office."

"Isn't she going to be expelled?"

Dante blinked at her. "Why would she be expelled?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Hermione was staring at him like he had grown three eyes. "She intended to kill a student!"

"She confessed before she tried anything." Dante shrugged. "That's above average treatment for people meeting me."

"You're taking this too lightly." Hermione said grimly. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will expel her. She's too dangerous."

"I'm going to side with Hermione on this one." said Ron.

"Look," said Dante, "She's been sent to kill me by the demon emperor. If Uncle Albus expels her, it would mean she failed and she'd be killed. Would be a bit too harsh, wouldn't you say?"

"So what, you wanna let her kill you?" Ron gaped at him.

"Nah, I wanna kill her boss." Dante said. "Look, why don't we explain it all after Harry and I get back?"

"Fine." Hermione said, huffily.

* * *

A diadem was lying in pieces on the table of Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was holding a long thin sword that Harry knew to be the Sword of Gryffindor. Patricia was sitting in an armchair with her legs crossed at the knees.

"Good evening, Harry." Dumbledore said without looking up from his sword. "I assume you've brought the invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah." said Harry. He was nearly certain that Dumbledore was deliberately avoiding looking at him. Resentment welled up inside of him again; What had he done to deserve this sort of treatment? Did Dumbledore think, like Snape, that he was just a whiny brat? Or did he blame Harry for the Ministry's attitude towards him, for all the humiliation he'd suffered because he believed Harry's story?

But it's the truth, he wanted to say. It's the truth, and you know it, so what could I have done?

"Splendid." said Dumbledore. "Now, let me tell you what I know of horcruxes..."

When he had finished, Harry felt like he had been run over with a steamroller.

"We must go beyond the grounds of Hogwarts before we can apparate to our destination." said Dumbledore. "Come, then, let us be off."

The long walk was filled with an awkward sort of silence. Trish, Dante and Harry himself huddled under the cloak, with Dante crouching a little because of his height. Once out of the grounds, Dumbledore held out his arm. Without a word, Dante held it, and offered his other arm to Harry, who offered his arm in turn to Trish.

Apparating felt like being squeezed through a very thin pipe. Harry wobbled on his feet once he had landed, but the other three kept their footing easily. Harry couldn't help but resent that a little.

His resentment vanished once he had looked forward and seen the house that had haunted his nightmares.

"Riddle House?" he choked.

"Yes." said Dumbledore. He was gazing up at the house. "I'll wait here. The three of you must go on. Dante, take the Sword of Gryffindor. You must use it to destroy the horcrux."

"Why aren't you going?" Harry blurted.

"I must not, Harry." Dumbledore said simply. "I am too susceptible."

Dante patted his shoulder. "Come on, Harry. Let's leave the old man to his riddles."

* * *

The house was as dreary inside as it seemed from outside. Trish led them to a bathroom on the second floor. There was a little snake carved on one of the walls.

"Time to show what you can do." she told Harry.

Harry looked at the serpent and concentrated, tried to think of it as a living, breathing snake...

"Open." he said.

The wall split in two to reveal a massive hallway that was easily bigger than the entire mansion. The walls were lined with shelves filled to the brim with identical cups.

Dante reached out to touch one.

As soon as his hand came into contact with it, the shelves doubled.

"Oops." Dante said a little sheepishly. "Wrong one."

"We'll never find it this way." said Trish.

"Can you sense anything strange?" Harry asked Dante. "You said you could sense Quirrell's dark aura or something..."

Dante smacked his forehead with an open palm. "I totally forgot." he said. "Yeah, I can sense horcruxes. I'll go look."

He came back in five minutes holding a cup in his hand. "This one." he said simply.

But Harry couldn't hear him; his scar had suddenly seared with pain, and it felt like his whole head was splitting open. He cried out and fell to his knees, one hand gripping for his forehead. It was blinding pain, he couldn't even think-

His vision darkened. A voice came from his throat, high and thin...

"Give me the cup or the boy dies."

He couldn't see anything, but a familiar voice replied, "You know, we've gotta stop meeting like this! Why are you always possessing people? C'mon dude, get a better hobby!"

If it was possible, the pain in Harry's head intensified. He felt his left foot take a step forward.

"Give. Me. The. Cup."

"Fine, fine... Take it easy..."

And then a different kind of pain surged through him and he knew no more.

* * *

When he came to, Dante was kneeling beside him. The pieces of Hufflepuff's cup lay a few feet away.

"Talk about susceptible." said Dante, and he gave Harry a shaky sort of smile. "You had me worried for a minute - you okay?"

"Yeah." said Harry. "What happened?"

"Voldemort possessed you." said Trish. She was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. "I remedied the situation."

"That wasn't very nice." Dante said to her. "I don't know what it's like in the demon world, but here, you're not supposed to go around electrocuting people."

"It got the job done." she said, shrugging.

Harry got to his feet, shakily. His legs felt as if they each weighed a ton and his head felt like it was stuffed with wool.

"Voldemort possessed me." he repeated. A new fear was starting to grip him. "I - I can't go back to Hogwarts."

Dante stared at him like he was talking gibberish. "You're talking gibberish."

"They won't be safe with me around." said Harry. "What if he possesses me again?"

Dante exchanged a look with Trish. "If he does," he said solemnly, "I promise to knock you out. Now, what'd you say we go back? I've had enough of this place."

* * *

Harry was the one who couldn't look Dumbledore in the eye once they had come out of the house. He stood in silence as Trish filled in the headmaster on what had transpired inside. Any moment, he thought, and Dumbledore would turn to him and say, "Sorry Harry, but you can't go back. We'll now take you back to your aunt's."

But Dumbledore didn't. Instead, he only seemed mildly surprised.

"I hoped my absence would prevent this." he commented.

"Wait a moment." said Dante. "You knew this could happen?"

"I had reason to suspect it." said Dumbledore. He looked down at the ground. "I must apologize, Harry. I should not have brought you here, and I certainly should not have allowed you to come in close contact with the horcrux."

"Yeah, well." said Harry. "I'm not going back, am I?"

"You are, Harry." Dumbledore looked up and looked him straight in the eye. "I have good reason to think that you will not be possessed again."

"Are you sure?"

"Unconsciousness on your part would not have been enough to stop Lord Voldemort from possessing you." Dumbledore said with a smile. "He released you because Lord Voldemort's soul, tainted as it is, could not bear remaining in the same body with someone whose soul is as pure as yours. He will not try to possess you again. He has learned his lesson."

"Is that why you wouldn't look at me before?" Harry demanded. "Because Voldemort might've possessed me?"

"Quick as ever, Harry."

"Took his sweet time, I'd say." Dante muttered, but Dumbledore ignored him. "Now, I must commend you all on an extraordinary task accomplished together. Off to bed, now, all of you; it is quite late."

Harry had rarely felt as light as he did that night. After Dumbledore had left, as the three students made their way through the Entrance Hall towards the staircases, the pain he had suffered already felt like a distant memory; Dumbledore was talking to him again, and they were one step closer to destroying Voldemort.

At first, he was surprised when he saw Dante standing at the foot of the staircase. Then 'Dante' raised his hand and pushed back the hair from his eyes, and Harry stopped short, his heart hammering in his chest.

That... wasn't Dante.

Vergil was standing in front of them.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. I really lost touch with ffn for this two months and so haven't had the inclination to give this chapter the editing it needed. But it's good to go, now, so let me know if you liked it!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Dante had stepped out from under the invisibility cloak as soon as he had seen his twin. He took a moment to look Vergil over. His brother looked exactly like him, so there was nothing surprising or unfamiliar about his appearance. However, Vergil had cold, hard eyes, and while that was familiar, as well - he had seen it four years earlier when they had last met - it didn't make it any less strikingly different to his own.

"How nice to meet again, brother." he said, smirking. "Missed me?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not here for you." Vergil said, returning the smile with a mirthless one of his own. His gaze meaningfully flicked to Dante's left, where Harry and Trish were hidden. "You know what I'm here for, don't you?"

Almost reflexively, Dante shifted to place himself directly between Vergil and his friends. "So dismissive?" he said, keeping his indifferent expression firmly in place. "Why, you wound me!"

"Indeed?" Vergil didn't seem to be fooled. "How very fortunate for me, though, that I find you outside on the very night I decide to take matter into my own - " he deliberately rested his hands on Yamato's sheath, "hands."

From behind, Dante heard one set of breathing speed up. He decided not to wait any longer.

"Whatever, since you're here, how about a little game?" he said.

"I thought you'd never ask." Vergil unsheathed Yamato deliberately and slowly. He was standing right in front of the middle of the first step. Dante could hear from Harry and Trish's breathing that their position had changed, they were going towards the left side of the staircase - they were trying to sneak past Vergil, clearly - but Vergil swiped Yamato to the left and they backed away.

"Really, now, Vergil?" Dante said, positioning himself once again between the three of them. "I know you love showing off, but forcefully keeping spectators is a bit too... needy, wouldn't you say?"

"Not when one of them possess the very prize of this little match of ours." Vergil drawled. "But seeing as he's too cowardly to face me, I guess you'll have to do."

Dante heard the change in Harry's breathing pattern and could guess what he was about to do - the fool was about to throw off the cloak, wasn't he- but Harry didn't.

Pleasantly surprised, he turned back to face Vergil and drew Rebellion. "Well then, let's not keep our audience waiting!"

Vergil threw two slashes from Yamato before Dante was within range. Dante blocked them effortlessly. He triggered as soon as Vergil was close, running up to him and aiming a strike at his shoulder. Vergil blocked, forcing Dante's sword down and trying to hit him with the sheath in his other hand. Dante ducked and kicked at Vergil's legs, who jumped back a step to avoid it. Dante followed after him. He had to land at least one hit before he got back to normal...

The opportunity came in the middle of a rapid flurry of stab-and-parry, when Vergil overbalanced after a thrust from Yamato that Dante had spun away to avoid. He immediately slashed Vergil through three times, the last of which threw him back a few steps and dropped him on one knee. Vergil placed one hand on the ground and forced himself up as Dante exhausted his trigger and changed back to his human form.

When Vergil triggered, a blue ball of energy surrounded him. A few summoned swords came out from it, but Dante cut them down. Vergil stepped out from inside the energy barrier, lifted himself up in a high jump and came down right in front of Dante. He attacked immediately, Yamato in a hundred place at once as he sought to find an opening, one Dante was set on not giving him.

And he didn't. When Vergil changed back to normal, he was looking a little frustrated. Dante could see why - it had been only a few seconds since their fight started, but already both of them could see that Dante was doing better than Vergil was. This was a pattern that ended up repeating - every time Dante triggered, he managed to hit Vergilat least once. When Vergil triggered, more often than not he didn't land a single hit.

It was at this point that Vergil brought out the Elder Wand.

At the sight of that wand, Dante suddenly felt a surge of anger unlike anything he had ever felt for Vergil when they were confronting each other. He had not forgotten what Vergil had done to get that particular weapon.

"Let's see if that was worth it all, huh, Vergil?" he said, his eyes flashing.

"Let's." Vergil said with a little smile. "I don't see yours."

Dante almost snorted. His wand was no match for the Elder, and Vergil knew it. However, he was also fairly certain Vergil did not know nearly as many spells as Dante did. Snape had seen to that.

Dante easily dodged the jet of light that came his way, only to find himself in front of Yamato. Rebellion came up to meet it, and Dante flicked his wand, sending a spell at Vergil that knocked him back. However, Vergil retaliated, and the word that came out of his mouth almost froze Dante in his tracks. Almost.

"Crucio!"

Dante dove out of the way. Now a few feet away from each other, he looked up at his brother, eyes wide in disbelief. Beside him, he could hear Harry's strained, nearly panicked breathing.

Vergil met his stare with his usual frigid look, but Dante could see a slight hint of... amusement?

"It's very effective." he said. "It gets through shields, and as long as your opponent is under the curse, they will be completely incapable of action. If done right, the effects last longer. You should try it sometime."

"I'd love to." Dante hissed, and then switched to Rebellion again as Vergil triggered.

The summoned swords that came at him was, once again, dodged. However, in the process he left himself vulnerable to a purple jet that felt like he had been stabbed again. Taking a sharp breath, he forced himself to stay on his feet. Now he really wished he could do a shield charm.

Vergil was on the ground again, and another sparring session ensued that ended with Vergil in human form and his stomach slashed open. Dante was trying to back Vergil up the stairs, so that he could give Harry and Trish room to escape.

Vergil flicked his wand again, and Dante dodged the spell. He stabbed with Rebellion, aiming for Vergil's chest, but he was blocked again. This would have continued, but it was then that he heard a pained groan, coming from the direction where Harry and Trish were.

Alarmed, he glanced backward. There was a steady stream of blood on the floor, coming from under the invisibility cloak, no doubt. The spell that Dante had dodged had hit someone behind him, and judging by the groan, it was Harry. Dante's blood turned to ice in his veins.

Vergil had stopped too. "Looks like someone might need medical attention." he said mildly.

Dante turned to face him. "Out of the way, Verge." he said. "I'm taking him to the hospital wing."

"No you aren't." Vergil said coolly, Yamato raised to block his path.

Dante stared at him incredulously. "He's going to die!"

"None of my concern."

Shaking with rage, Dante raised Rebellion. "Any last words, brother?"

Vergil's response was another spell at Dante that - ricocheted back?

A shield had been thrown up in front of Dante. Vergil staggered back, his head down, and without giving him time to recover, Dante yelled the first thing that came to his mind that would be effective and also go through the shield- "Crucio!"

The moment the word left his mouth, he felt like the world had stopped. What had he done? Vergil would not be able to dodge this in time - he wanted to jerk his wand away, but the spell had already left it, and it hit his brother right in the chest.

Vergil was thrown back against the stairs and lay motionless. Dante rushed up to him, watching him for any movement, any sign that he was in the sort of excruciating pain the Cruciatus was supposed to cause. Nothing.

The wand fell from suddenly nerveless fingers. Dante whirled back and ran towards where Harry and Trish were. As he reached them, Trish threw back the invisibility cloak, and Harry came into view, a deep cut in his stomach. Dante gripped them both and tricked them to the top of the staircase. It was the first time he had done this with others, but it wasn't difficult.

"I can get him there faster." said Trish. She leaned down and grasped onto Harry's arm.

Dante nodded. "I'll keep Vergil busy." he handed her the invisibility cloak and moved back, watching as Trish disappeared in a crackle of electricity.

When he turned back towards the staircase, Vergil was pushing himself back up to his feet.

Without thinking, Dante blurted, "You alright?"

Vergil laughed. It was, once again, mirthless. "So weak." he said, contemptously. "Out of the way, Dante."

"Madam Pomfrey will throw a fit if we fight in the hospital wing, y'know." Dante said mildly.

"Best to do it here, then." said Vergil. "I'm on a tight schedule, brother."

Dante triggered without a second thought. A split second later, he ducked to avoid the swipe that came at his head. He slashed at Vergil's midsection, but Yamato was there to block. Vergil forced his sword up, trying to break the deadlock by knocking Dante's sword out of his hand. He didn't succeed, however. Dante switched his grip to one hand, and punched Vergil straight in the face. Vergil was thrown off his feet, landing about three steps down the stairs.

Dante waited for Vergil to get to his feet. A flash of light enveloped his brother again, and he was back in his triggered form. Dante slid down the stairs towards him, sword extended in front. Vergil stepped to the side and hit with the sheath of Yamato, following it up with a cut from the blade. Dante blocked the sheath, but was hit with the katana. He hit back immediately, and Vergil took the cut to the shoulder, but didn't even slow down as he swiped with Yamato three more times, all of which were blocked. Dante slashed two times and then went into a flurry of stabs, ending with a thrust. Vergil blocked all of the stabs, but the last move knocked him back a pace, blood flowing out from the hole in his stomach, splattering on the stairs.

He was steadily tiring. Dante, however, felt like he had just gotten started.

"You're not winning this one, Vergil." he said calmly, advancing. "You could call it quits, I suppose!"

He could see in Vergil's eyes that the truth was sinking in. "Never." he said anyway.

Dante shrugged. "Have it your way. Go on, give it your best shot."

Vergil took the stairs three at a time towards Dante, but suddenly his feet paused mid-stride against some invisible barrier. He paused, a look of surprise on his face. "What...?"

Dumbledore was standing at the top of the stairs, his wand aloft.

"Happy as this spar undoubtedly has been, all good things must come to an end, Vergil." he said. "I bid you good-night."

Vergil attempted to walk forward, only to come up short against that same invisible wall.

"Spoilsport." said Dante, but his tone was resigned. "We were just getting to the good part!"

"There is a place and time for everything, Dante, and this is not it." Dumbledore said. "Go visit your friend. Vergil, given enough time I'm quite sure you can find a way around the shield. However, rest assured the Invisibility cloak is not with Harry at present, so a trip to the hospital wing would be fruitless. May I suggest a Calming Draught before you attempt to sleep tonight?"

With a frustrated growl, Vergil swept out of the hall with a, "this is not over." Dante followed after Dumbledore.

"How's Harry?" he said.

"Recovering." said Dumbledore. "Patricia brought him to the hospital wing in time. She notified me afterwards. It was an err in judgment I must forgive her for, as if Harry was brought to me, he would have been healed immediately."

"Fawkes."

"Precisely."

Dante swallowed thickly. "I should've remembered."

"No harm was done." Dumbledore said kindly.

They were silent after that, all the way to the hospital wing. Right before they were about to enter, Dante spoke.

"Thanks." he said. "For stepping in. If that continued, I might've done something more I'd regret later... I wasn't thinking straight." _The thing he had already done..._

"Understandable, and you're very welcome." Dumbledore said.

"No, it's not understandable!" Dante snarled. "I... I used the Cruciatus!"

Dumbledore stopped in his tracks, looking genuinely surprised. "Did you?"

"Yeah. I had to put the spell through a shield charm and that was the first freaking thing that popped into my head!"

"I see." Dumbledore looked at him expectantly. "What were the effects?"

That was the part that puzzled him as well, but how did Dumbledore know that? "He... err... he got knocked out."

"Ah." Dumbledore was... smiling?

"What?"

"That, Dante, is the effect that takes place when you are a particularly strong wizard, but have no desire to actually harm the person you are using the curse on."

"Why wouldn't I? That's the whole point of fighting, isn't it?"

"Wrong choice of words, then." Dumbledore said. The smile had slipped off his face. "I should have said, desire to cause pain to the victim, and for prolonged effects, enjoy it." Dante felt vaguely nauseous at that thought. "My boy, I highly doubt you will ever be able to use the Cruciatus Curse efficiently, but particularly not when it comes to your brother. "

Dante let that sink in. Would Vergil have been successful? He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, but he feared he already did. Their duels had definitely given him the answer on whether or not Vergil had the capacity to enjoy his pain.

Why couldn't he, then, he angrily thought to himself. Vergil deserved it, didn't he?

His train of thought came to an abrupt end when Dumbledore said, "Ah, here we are." he stepped back to let Dante enter first.

Fawkes was perched beside Harry, who was sitting up in his bed. Trish was in a chair by the bed, legs crossed, looking relaxed as she watched Harry banter with Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm healed now, see?" he was insisting. "Why can't I get back to my dormitory?"

"You're still recovering from the blood loss." said Madam Pomfrey. "I want you here overnight for observation, no arguments."

"But I - Professor Dumbledore!"

"Hello, Harry." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

"Headmaster! Tell me this wasn't another demon attack!"

"Not exactly, Poppy. Let's just say it was an unfortunate-"

"It was my idiot brother." Dante said curtly.

Madam Pomfrey gasped. "How did he get in?"

Dumbledore gave Dante a mild reproaching look. "It has been dealt with." he said to Madam Pomfrey.

"Is he gone?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." said Dante. "Uncle Albus kicked him out."

"Poppy, if you'll excuse us for a moment?" said Dumbledore.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips, but she did leave the room to go into her office.

Trish was watching Dante with narrowed eyes. Dante remembered what Dumbledore had said about him being transparent. Luckily, he had spent too much time around Snape to not learn how to shut out his emotions.

"I'm impressed you kept yourself in check back there." he said to Harry.

Harry shot Trish a very dark look.

"I may have petrified him." Trish said, sheepishly.

"Then she forgot the counter for it." snapped Harry.

"It wore off, fortunately." she added.

"You're far too wand-happy." Harry grumbled.

"Nice shield charm, by the way." Dante interrupted. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Harry looked gloomy. "Second time I had to be saved like a-"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Harry." Dumbledore said with a little smile. "And I'm sure Dante is grateful for your assistance."

"Hey, just give me a nice present for Christmas and we'll call it even." Dante said, grinning.

"I expect Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger would like to be notified." Dumbledore said to Trish.

"They can know in the morning." said Harry. "They're probably asleep."

"Now that you mention it..." Trish rose and stretched like a cat. "I should go to bed, I have classes in the morning. Good night."

The three of them were silent for a moment after she had left.

"I suppose I should bid you good night as well," said Dumbledore. "You would stay, I expect?"

He was addressing Dante, who nodded.

"Where's the cloak?" said Harry.

"It will be returned to you in due time, Harry." Dumbledore said calmly. "For now, I think it best not to leave it where Vergil may find it. Not that I doubt your abilities, Dante - you have proven yourself time and again - this is simply the safest course at present."

When Dumbledore had left, Dante sat down in the empty chair Trish had left and stifled a yawn.

"Huh. What a night." he said.

"You're falling asleep sitting up?" Harry looked amused.

"I can fall asleep standing up." Dante assured him. "You get some sleep too, Madam Pomfrey isn't letting you out tonight."

Despite his words, even after Harry had drifted off, the morbid thoughts in Dante's head kept him awake long into the night.

* * *

Harry had expected the whole school to know about the incident by morning. Surprisingly, no one seemed to.

That was, of course, not including Ron and Hermione.

"I think we can arrange a DA meeting next Wednesday, Harry." said Hermione, looking over his essay for him during breakfast. "I've checked the schedule- the Quidditch practices aren't on Wednesday."

"Good." said Harry absently, spreading jam over his toast. His mind was still on yesterday's incident.

He couldn't deny it; it had shaken him. And if Vergil could just walk into Hogwarts whenever he wanted to, this was bound to happen again, wasn't it?

"Listen, Harry-" Hermione lowered her voice. "What's happened last night, it's awful - it is, and I think it's okay if you take the day off-"

"No." Harry said immediately. "I'm fine."

"Yep." said Dante from Harry's other side, clapping him on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, Harry. Vergil isn't worth it, trust me."

"He didn't even mean to hit me last night." Harry said, speaking in a lowered voice. "And still - that happened. Even Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to think it's safe to entrust the cloak to me."

"Umm..." said Dante. "You don't think you can take on Vergil, do you? Not that the shield charm wasn't a good touch..."

That was what had been bothering Harry, he realized. He had always been under threat, but never - never from such a formidable foe that he couldn't dream of measuring up to. "No." he said. "No, I don't."

"Hey, if that's what's bugging you, forget it. Pretty much everybody's got something they can't take on. Vergil can't take me on." said Dante. "Only he's too pigheaded to admit it."

"Who can't you take on?"

Harry knew he had asked the wrong question even before Dante's face darkened.

"Mundus." Dante said finally.

"The Demon Emperor?" Ron chimed in.

"Yeah. One day, though." Dante said. Softly he added, "One day..."

"About Trish, though." Hermione said hurriedly. "Did Professor Dumbledore say why he didn't expel her?"

Harry and Dante both turned to stare at her. "She saved my life yesterday, Hermione!" said Harry.

"Yes, but Professor Dumbledore didn't know she would, did he? She was guilty of coming to school with the intent to assassinate a student..."

"What part of 'we need her for the horcruxes' don't you get, Hermione?" Dante sounded exasperated. "Besides, if she gets expelled, Mundus will kill her. Is that what you want?"

"No." said Hermione, after a moment of silence. "But her getting away scot-free is not fair to you."

When Dante answered, his voice had noticably softened.

"Well, I suppose I could ask her to buy me some sundaes..."

Hermione laughed, and the matter was dropped.

* * *

Harry went to bed early that night. In spite of Madam Pomfrey's blood replenishing potion, he was tiring much faster than usual. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was sitting by a fireplace. The room was large, with paintings hanging on the walls. The fire cast strange shadows on the wooden floor, his silhoutte large against it. The armchair he was sitting in was old, antique. The woodwork was hidden by the expensive cushions placed on it.

There was a quiet noise, and Harry looked up. A tall figure had entered the room.

"So you have failed." Harry said in a high, cold voice.

"That's none of your concern." Harry felt a surge of anger. This brat dared talk to him that way? "Rest assured I have my ways to obtain what I need. I'm here to ensure that you can provide the other thing I need."

"I can." Harry said. "I shall provide you with what you wished for... as soon as I am given what I wished for."

The other figure stepped forth from the doorway. However, he remained in the shadows, no feature visible in the light. "You will be. Now, show me."

Harry lazily raised his hand. A single ring glinted on his paper white middle finger, with a large black stone set in the middle. A mark cut into the stone glittered in the light - a dot inside a triangle, surrounded by a circle.

There was a loud snore, and Harry startled awake. It was Ron.

Annoyance rose up inside of him. Couldn't Ron have waited just a little longer? He was sure that the dream was important - Voldemort was in league with someone - someone whose voice was familiar -

Vergil.

Harry sat bolt upright on his bed. That was it - the voice was Vergil's! He wanted a ring Voldemort had, and in return he had promised Voldemort something. Was it some secret to gaining more power? An army of demons? What?

"Dante?" he said quietly.

"Yeah?" the voice came from near the window. Dante was looking out over the grounds, evidently wide-awake.

"I think I saw something Dumbledore needs to know."

* * *

Dumbledore listened with his fingers steepled together, his eyes scanning Harry's with that familiar penetrating gaze.

"So he has found the second: the Resurrection Stone." he said. "Dante, have you told Harry about the Deathly Hallows?"

"Nope." said Dante.

"Then I ask you, Harry, to read the tales of Beedle the Bard." said Dumbledore. "As for now, I think it will suffice for you to know that there are three elements called the Deathly Hallows, and together, they are said to make the owner 'Master of Death'. They are a wand called the Elder wand, the invisibility cloak you possess, and the stone you have seen."

"So Vergil - he's after the three elements?"

"Evidently." said Dumbledore. "He already has the Elder wand. I believe he may have tempted Lord Voldemort with the promise of turning him into a demon. It is an idea Lord Voldemort will find very appealing, as immortality has always been what he has sought above all else."

"Yeah, well." said Dante. "He's not getting the Invisibility Cloak, so..."

"He must not." said Dumbledore, his eyes hard. "You have done well to come to me with this, Harry. Be on your guard. We do not know how and where Vergil will attack next."

"Leave that to me." said Dante, with a yawn.

"I must take a leaf out of Alastor's book, in this case." said Dumbledore, and the familiar twinkle was back in his eyes. "Constant vigilance, both of you. Good-night!"

* * *

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 **AnotherGuest: Mysteries aren't my strong suit, so I suppose it's a good thing I just decided to get Dumbledore's explanations over with! Thank you for the nice word about the cliffie. I hope what came after was enjoyable for you, as well.**

 **TheHollowDemonsX: Sorry, but I don't know much about DmC. Why don't you write it and publish it as a prompt? Perhaps someone with more skill and experience on DmC can help you!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: One thing I'd specifically like to say to all readers: Reviews are always a huge boost, and even if you don't like a chapter, or even the story, it'd be great if you took the time to leave constructive criticism. Thanks to everyone who have followed and favorited!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

 **On to the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

The topics of Vergil and horcruxes were largely ignored over the last few weeks before the first Quidditch game. Ron, who was now officially the Gryffindor keeper, became more and more nervous as the match approached and the verbal war between Slytherins and Gryffindors swelled.

Dante, for his part, found Ron's nervousness a little ridiculous.

"They don't even throw Bludgers at Keepers!" he said to the redhead on the morning of the match. "What're you so scared about?"

"You didn't see the practices." Ron said miserably. They were at the Great Hall for breakfast, but he hadn't even taken a bite of his food. "I'm horrible. I don't know what I was thinking, honestly..."

"Well, if they selected you, the other options must've been worse." Dante pointed out around a mouthful of omelette.

Hermione shot him a mild glare. "You'll be fine, Ron." she said encouragingly. "Just stay calm."

"Easy for you to say." Ron muttered. "Why didn't you try out?" he said to Dante, gloomily. "You'd have been far better."

Dante opened his mouth to say exactly how boring he found the keeping position, but a warning look from Hermione had him change track. "Probably wouldn't have been allowed." he said, nodding pointedly towards the teachers' table, where Umbridge was watching the students with beady eyes. "Anyway, Harry'll end the match soon enough. You can't let in 15 goals, right? There probably won't be that many shots, even!"

"Ron," said Harry, noticing his friend's eyes wandering towards the supportive and antagonistic banners and hats, "Don't let them go to your head. Think of it as practice, that's all..."

It turned out to be a very ugly game, made uglier by the song Slytherins started singing about Ron and how he was going to lose Gryffindor the match. It performed its desired objective perfectly - making Ron nervous, who let in so many goals that, had Harry been a little later in catching the snitch, Gryffindor would have lost.

"That was a hell of a performance." Dante said appreciatively as Harry touched down with the snitch in his hand. Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait..."

"Oh no," said Hermione, dismayed. Malfoy had landed in front of Harry, and from the look of it, was insulting Ron. As they watched, Harry physically restrained George from hurling himself at Draco.

"That could get nasty." Dante commented. "I'll go help." he said to Hermione.

He jumped down to the field, and at that precise moment, Malfoy snarled something that caused Harry to let go of George and sprint towards the blonde.

Dante didn't think; he simply reacted. He whipped out his wand, and a shield formed in front of Malfoy, causing Harry and George both to slam into it. The shield dissipated almost immediately, but Dante had already reached them by that time. He placed himself between the three, and tackled both Harry and George when they came full speed at him.

"Hey! Calm down!" he yelled, easily keeping them at bay.

"I don't need a bloody bodyguard, Sparda." Malfoy snapped from behind him. "Get out of here!"

"So you can run to Umbridge about getting beat up?" Dante said without looking at him. "Where do you pick up all these cheap tricks, Draco? Does Daddy and Mommy give you lessons?"

He turned a split second later to block Malfoy's fist inches from his face. By this time, the other members of the Gryffindor squad had come forward and were holding back Harry and George, so he had nothing to worry about.

Malfoy lashed out with his other hand, and Dante blocked that too, effectively trapping him.

"Sloppy." he said, smirking. "Who would have thought? The Seeker of Slytherin has fitness problems!"

"That's enough!" it was Professor McGonagall. She and Snape were both hurrying towards them. "Potter, Weasley, Sparda, my office, now! Severus, kindly deal with Mr. Malfoy!"

Dante released Malfoy and followed McGonagall, confident that he wouldn't be punished, at least. But then, George and Harry shouldn't be, either, right? They hadn't hurt anyone, after all.

* * *

"Potter, Weasley. Explain."

"He was insulting our parents!" Harry said heatedly.

"And so you not only attacked Mr. Malfoy, but also one of your friends?"

Harry and George both looked at Dante a little guiltily.

"Two detentions and twenty points off each, I think." said McGonagall. "As for you, Mr. Sparda-"

"He didn't do anything!" Harry said immediately. "He just blocked us, and later Malfoy..."

"I thought so, as well." she said. She breathed out heavily through her nose. "Well, at least one of you behaved sensibly. Ten points for-"

"My, my. Are we rewarding offenders now?"

The simpering voice caused a flare of anger to shoot through Harry. Professor Umbridge emerged, smiling horribly.

"Misters Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were very helpful in telling me of exactly what tranpired." she said. "You missed some of the incident, didn't you, Professor? When you were coming down to the pitch?"

"What are you trying to imply, Dolores?" the deputy headmistress' voice was frigid.

Umbridge's smile widened. "Mr. Sparda was reported to have gotten into a fistfight with Mr. Malfoy. He had no business being on the pitch, yet he entered it and assaulted a player. I think that calls for a punishment, myself."

The look on McGonagall's face was nothing short of disgust. "I think you have a biased view of the incident, Dolores."

"On the contrary, professor." said Umbridge. "I think it may be you who is experiencing some... inclination to aid students of your House. That would not do at all." she turned to Dante, and a gleeful smirk twisted her lips. "Detention for a fortnight, Mr. Sparda." she said, very softly.

"You cannot be serious!" McGonagall exploded.

"Oh, quite serious." said Umbridge. She was still staring at Dante, who returned the stare but said nothing. His hands were fisted at his sides.

"Tonight, then. 5 o'clock. Good day, everyone."

They all stood stock-still until the door closed behind the pink-clad woman. Then Dante abruptly whirled and smashed his fist into an empty chair, completely shattering it.

"I'll show her good day." he snarled. "She'll get what's coming to her!"

"Control yourself, Mr. Sparda." McGonagall said sternly, but noticeably didn't take any points for the outburst. She flicked her wand, banishing the broken pieces of wood. "Let the professors confront Umbridge. You focus on staying out of trouble."

"Fat load of good that did me, didn't it?" Dante looked up, his eyes flashing. "If she's gonna give me detentions no matter what, might as well earn it."

Professor McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose. "I told you to stay out of trouble, Mr. Sparda. That means avoiding getting detentions. I don't see how I can make this clearer to you."

For a moment, Harry wasn't sure if he had heard right. She was indirectly giving Dante permission to exact revenge! He had not pegged her as the rebellious type. It seemed Umbridge brought out the best(or worst, depending on perspective) in everyone.

Dante seemed to have caught on. His trademark grin was back on his face. "I'll try my best, professor."

* * *

"Well, it could've been worse." said Angelina Johnson, captain of the Gryffindor team. "You two could've landed our team in trouble!"

Harry said nothing. Guilt was churning his stomach. Yes, they had gotten off relatively easy, but he had a feeling that it would have been much, much worse if it weren't for Dante's intervention. And his friend had paid the price for it.

George was not so quiet. "Do you get what 15 days' worth of detention means, Angelina?" he snapped. His temper had not yet completely subsided. "No time for sleep, on weekdays! For two weeks straight!"

"Don't sweat it." spoke up Dante, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange. He and Hermione were sitting at a little distance from the Gryffindor squad. "I can handle it. If you wanna do something, though..." a little smirk spread over his face. "I know just the thing."

He beckoned the twins over, and moved away from Hermione, going near the window and talking in low voices.

Hermione watched them for a moment, and then got up and walked to Harry. "I need to talk to you."

"What?"

"You saw how tired he got the last time he had to serve detention?" she said in a rush.

That had bugged Harry, too, but Dante had brushed aside any and all questions they had asked. Except for one thing, "He said Umbridge kept him up all night."

Hermione shook her head. "I think it's worse, Harry." she said grimly. "You told me how he reacted when Umbridge assigned him detention - he never acts that way when Professor Snape does it. I saw how relieved he was when the detentions ended last time. I think- I think something really bad is going on."

"I tried asking him what the detention is." said Harry. "He said it was lines... normal quill and ink."

"He did?" Hermione frowned. "He may have been lying. That sounds too mild for Umbridge."

"Tell you what," said Ron, and they jumped in surprise. They hadn't even noticed when Ron had come to stand behind Hermione. "We can stay up, catch him after he gets back."

"And what, exactly, are you going to catch him at?" Hermione demanded.

"I don't know." said Ron, looking a little uncomfortable. "Anything out of the ordinary, I s'pose."

Hermione looked far from satisfied, but eventually conceded, along with Harry, that it was worth a try.

* * *

It was a long wait. Ron dozed off, and Hermione had to cast a charm on him to stop the sound of snoring. Harry's eyes also drifted closed many times, only for Hermione to shake him awake.

An hour before dawn, the portrait hole slid open. Dante entered, rubbing at his sleeve.

"Damn woman, I hope this washes out..." he stopped in his tracks. "You're awake?" he said, turning towards where the three of them were sitting in darkness. There was a cautious edge to his voice.

He pulled his arm close to his chest, sharply, when light flashed on his sleeve, coming out from Harry and Hermione's wands. Despite Dante's quick reaction, they still managed to catch a glimpse of the substance coating his sleeve.

"That's blood!" Hermione cried.

Dante winced. He opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it and fell silent again.

"Just lines, eh?" said Harry, stepping forward. "With ink and quill?"

"I said it was natural stuff, not ink and quill." Dante said defensively. "You made that up all by yourself."

"So it is lines?" said Hermione. "Wait... not ink - she's using your blood, isn't she? But - natural stuff? Is she..." she took in a sharp breath. "She's not - not collecting your blood and using that to write?"

"Close enough." Dante said evasively.

But Harry knew that wasn't it. Dante's sleeve...

Wait...

Why was it rolled so far back? And why was he holding his arm so... stiffly?

The lines Umbridge gave him was carved into the back of Harry's hand...

"Does the detention involve any parchment at all?" he heard himself ask.

Dante's face turned stony. Hermione turned to Harry, quizzical. "What... what are you talking about?"

"Figured it out, huh?" Dante said, ignoring Hermione. "Full marks, Harry. See why I haven't told you? There's nothing anyone can do."

"You tried Dumbledore?" Harry felt like a hypocrite for saying it.

"Can't." said Dante. "Umbridge's within her rights. It's out of his hands. I don't want him to get sacked because of me. Like I said, I can handle it."

"Handle what?" Hermione was clearly getting agitated.

"Carving lines into his arm," said Harry.

The room fell eerily silent.

"Tony..." Hermione spoke finally, and her voice was trembling.

"Yeah..." Dante was looking anywhere but at them.

"I'll get her for this." it was then that Harry realized Hermione's voice was trembling because of rage. "I hope she goes to Azkaban for this!"

"Hermione," Dante said sharply, "You don't get involved. I don't want anyone taking the heat for me. That said," he smiled a little. "I do have a little plan for taking her down a couple notches... "

* * *

By the time the week ended, Dante didn't think there was another human other than Umbridge he had come so close to actually hating. He had thought of something that might be a good payback for the detentions. It had required some training from Fred and George.

The twins had been happy enough to help once they had learned what he was up to.

"It's a little more advanced than what we do." Fred had said. "But the basic's the same. You shouldn't have any trouble."

On Saturday, day after the night his detention ended, he entered the owlery and called for Hedwig. She hopped down to accept his treat; then she perched on his shoulder and held out a leg. Dante tied a parcel to it.

"Just go on a trip around the castle and come back here." he said.

When Hedwig came back, the parcel was nowhere to be found. Dante grinned to himself, gave her another treat, and left.

Dolores Umbridge was nowhere to be seen at breakfast. It wasn't a very uncommon occurrence, so no one paid it any mind.

She was absent at lunch and dinner, too.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked Dante suspiciously, after they were halfway through dinner and Umbridge still hadn't appeared.

"You'll see." Dante said, grinning.

At this point, a first year Hufflepuff girl screamed. They all turned to look.

She had a very ugly looking toad on her plate. The strange thing was, however, that it was holding what seemed to be a wooden stick in its mouth.

Ernie McMillian strode forward and picked the toad off the table. "Has someone lost a toad? Longbottom? Is this yours?"

"No." said Neville.

The toad was croaking indignantly in Ernie's palm. Ernie reached forward to pluck the stick off its mouth. "It's a wand." he said, puzzled. "Whose wand is this?"

He shrank back when Severus Snape swept towards him from the teachers' table.

A deathly silence had fallen over the hall now as Snape inspected the wand.

"If I'm not mistaken," he said after a few minutes, "This belongs to Professor Umbridge."

A series of murmuring swept through the hall.

"What...How...?" stammered Ernie.

"Surely not..." Dumbledore said quietly. The next moment, he had stood from his chair and was hurrying towards Snape and Ernie. When he reached them, he pointed his wand towards the toad, levitated it off Ernie's palm and set it down on the ground. With a flick, the toad was gone, and Dolores Umbridge stood where the toad had been.

There was a moment of silence. And then the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaws erupted into laughter.

"Silence!" Umbridge screamed.

The laughter died down faster than one could say 'Detention'.

Umbridge was red with indignation and humiliation. She resembled a toad now more than ever.

"Dolores," said Dumbledore, and the twinkling was back in his eyes. "How did this happen?"

She said nothing. Her eyes swept over the students, popping horribly as it fixed on Harry's face.

But still, she didn't say anything, only fuming silently. Dumbledore guided her back to the staff table, solemn as ever. The other teachers weren't so good at maintaining their stoicism. Flitwick had disappeared under the table, Professor McGonagall's eyebrows were nearly up to her hairline and Professor Sprout was covering her mouth with her hand.

"Why's she looking at me like that?" Harry asked in a low voice to Dante, but he was grinning. "I wish I could say I did it, but I didn't."

"I sent Hedwig off for a trip with a fake wand that turns people into toads." Dante said, snickering. "Hermione told me she reads your mail. She intercepted the parcel, but obviously she can't admit that now, can she?"

Umbridge was staring at Harry again. Dante tilted his head to one side so that he blocked her view of Harry, and gave her a wink. Her eyes popped again. "You!" she screamed.

"Yes, Dolores?" McGonagall said politely, even though she had followed Umbridge's line of sight and had to have seen the wink.

Umbridge fell silent again. Her normally composed attitude seemed to have faded into thin air.

Most students were breaking out into spontaneous fits of laughter all the way back to their common room. And when Professor McGonagall awarded Dante thirty points for a simple transfiguration in the next class, no one asked why.

* * *

The DA sessions were progressing well. The shield charm was successfully covered by the beginning of November. Harry started Expelliarmus next, insisting that it could save one's life in a duel between wizards. Dante didn't object. Quite frankly, he thought they ought to focus on aiming instead, because actual enemies were unlikely to be standing still the way everyone in DA did in duels. He raised that point with Harry after one DA meeting, and Harry asked everyone in the next session to move around as much as they could, trying to dodge the attacks as well as casting shields.

November flew by and December arrived. Harry finally got around to teaching everyone the Reductor Curse. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that it was a curse that was crucial to get right, and so it was all they practiced before Christmas.

Before they knew it, the last week before the holiday was upon them. Everyone successfully cast the curse during the last DA session, much to Harry's delight.

"I think you people are ready to face a few demons now." Dante said to the group when they were wrapping things up.

More than a few exchanged alarmed looks.

"If it helps, I can promise that no one will have permanent damage." Dante added, grinning. "Which is more than you can say for Umbridge's classes - they're giving us all brain damage."

This brought forth a round of laughter. Satisfied, Dante stowed his wand into his pocket and called Trish. "Hey, I gotta talk to you."

She turned, walking closer and lowering her voice as she said, "Yes?"

"I think it's best if you don't kill any demons." he said.

"Goes without saying." said Trish. "I wouldn't want to stand out. That's your job."

Dante blinked, unsure if that was a good-natured jab or an insult. He decided to take it in good humor. "I try, thanks." he said with a smirk. "I think you'll allow that I do okay?"

"Oh yes." she said, and she smiled brightly. Dante was reminded with a sharp pang how much she resembled his mother. Dumbledore had said that she could be his sister, didn't he? And Trish was raised by Mundus...

"Tony?" it was Hermione's voice. "Come on!"

Dante glanced back. The room was empty save for them, Harry and a Ravenclaw girl named Cho Chang who Harry had a huge crush on.

Taking the hint, he left with Hermione.

"Hermione?" he said once they were near the Gryffindor tower.

"Yes?" she had picked up on his mood; her tone was one of concern.

"Did I tell you that Trish was made with Mum's blood? So, in a kinda roundabout way, she's my sister."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, you mentioned it."

"But she's a demon." Dante said, frowning. "Do you think the demon blood that she's got might be father's?"

She didn't answer right away, chewing at her lower lip.

"It's possible, but I'd say it's unlikely." she said finally. "Why would Mundus bother with that?"

"To get to me?" Dante wondered. "To get to us?"

For a fleeting moment, he thought he had seen something like triumph pass over Hermione's face. "And are you doing anything to prevent that, Tony?"

Dante was immediately on the defensive. "Trish isn't out to get me! She could've taken the chance to hit me from behind when Vergil and I were fighting. Besides, she saved Harry and kept the cloak safe."

"I'm not saying Trish is trying to get you." said Hermione. "But say Mundus captures her. Won't you go after her?"

Dante stared at her, aghast. "He could do that? Well," he muttered to himself, "Of course he could do that. Well, we can't have Trish going to Mundus again, then!"

"She has to report regularly." Hermione said. "Otherwise, Mundus will suspect something is wrong."

"What if he just decides enough is enough and finishes her off...?"

"Tony!" Hermione snapped. "Focus! Professor Dumbledore is fully aware of all that we are talking about. Don't you think we should leave the decision making to him? If we can't trust Professor Dumbledore, we can't trust anyone."

"Yeah, whatever." Dante said slowly. "You get that I've lost too many family members, though, don't you? I'll be damned if I lose another person to Mundus-"

"And we don't want to lose you to Mundus!" Hermione persisted. "Have a little more faith, Tony. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore knows what he's doing."

* * *

It was late at night when Dante woke to a sound of someone groaning.

He had heard that before... it was Harry, probably having a nightmare... he got to his feet and took the few steps to Harry's bedside.

It was immediately obvious that whatever Harry was dreaming about, it was no ordinary nightmare. He was soaked with sweat and shivering. Alarmed, Dante gave him a good shake. "Hey, wake up!"

Harry's eyes snapped open. "Arthur Weasley!" he cried.

"Wow, I didn't know Ron's dad was the stuff of nightmares..." said Dante, bewildered.

"He's been bitten!" snapped Harry.

"Whoa, what?"

"I was - it was a snake... I saw it happen!"

Dante was immediately reminded of two things: Voldemort's connection to Harry that Dumbledore talked about, and the fact that Voldemort possessed a snake horcrux.

He left the room in three large steps. Fortunately, he didn't have to enter the girls' dormitory - the female student he was looking for was sitting on the sofa near the fireplace, painting her nails.

"Trish," he said, "Go and tell Dumbledore Ron's Dad's been attacked."

She looked up. "How'd you know?"

"Harry saw it happen - I think Voldemort's snake bit him."

Trish stood, and was gone in a flash of lightning.

When Dante got back to the dormitory, the other boys had all woken up, and Neville had gone to get Professor McGonagall. Harry was trying to tell Ron about Arthur Weasley's injury, to no avail. Ron seemed to be half in a state of shock, unsure whether to believe Harry or not. The situation was resolved when Professor McGonagall arrived and said she was taking Harry to Dumbledore.

When Trish came back, she told Dante that Harry and the Weasleys had gone.

"We can't go." she said matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore's orders."

"Stopping demon invasion and all that jazz." Dante said, scowling. "Yeah, got it."

The school would be nearly empty by tomorrow night, he thought. Maybe he could get some not-so-legal things done then...

* * *

 **So... I know that, considering what Umbridge did to Dante, she got off pretty easily. But I think we all know that Dante never hurts humans if he can help it. A little humiliation doesn't hurt, though, hence the prank!**

 **Please let me know your thoughts!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: I really hope you like this chapter. A lot of thought went into this one. Be sure to let me know what you thought of it! Thanks to everyone who has favorited and followed.**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Dante had an idea.

As Hermione would say, that meant he was up to no good, the silver-haired boy thought smugly. He was in the library - another alarming sign according to Hermione - and poring over a book titled, 'Your Inner Animal: A guide to becoming an Animagus'.

It wasn't a recent idea, actually. Dante had been trying since he had turned thirteen to become one. Unfortunately, the process was long and extremely arduous. He had initially been won over by the idea of turning into a magical creature; even though from what he knew, to date no animagus had ever turned into one. he hadn't given up on the hope that he might be the first. After all, none of the other animagi had been a half-demon - a magical creature - in the first place.

He was in the last stages, now. He was doing this without supervision because he didn't want to register with the ministry. In his opinion, it took the fun out of it. Not to mention he would lose the advantage of surprise if his animagus form was listed at the Ministry.

He hadn't told any of his friends what he was doing. Even if Harry and Ron didn't tell him to register, Hermione would, and he didn't want to tell Harry and Ron if he couldn't tell Hermione.

Yesterday, Dante had finally transformed - if one could call changing eye color a transformation. His eyes had turned black, and his eyesight had improved drastically - enough to see all the way across the lake from his dormitory window. He wasn't quite sure what he was turning into; judging by the newfound ability, it was possibly something capable of flight. He hoped it would be a dragon, but there was no way to be sure. It could just as easily be a crow.

"Time to close!" came Madame Pince's voice.

Dante stood, tucking the book under one arm. He was taking it back to the common room.

* * *

He got a raised eyebrow from Trish when he entered through the Fat Lady's portrait.

"I hear it's a long process," she said, nodding at the book in his hand. The two of them were the only Gryffindors left in Hogwarts, and two of the only five students staying over the holidays.

"Takes more than that to scare me off," Dante said smugly.

She gave a little smile. "Are you planning on starting?"

Technically, he had started a long time ago, so the answer was - "No."

Trish looked surprised but chose not to comment. She turned back to the glass of water in front of her. It had a large chunk of ice floating on the top. She pointed her wand at the liquid part and concentrated. A blast of cold air shot out, turning all of the water into ice.

Dante whistled. "Isn't that third-year stuff? Nice. Anyway, I was thinking," he plopped down onto the armchair next to hers, "We should go for a sparring match."

Setting the glass aside, Trish turned towards him, looking uncertain for the first time since Dante had known her, "I don't know," she said. "I've never had a friendly round before. It's not like that in the underworld."

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Dante pressed. "Tell you what, I'll even go easy on you, okay?"

Trish straightened, looking appropriately ruffled. "I was more worried about you," she said. "But if you insist... Room of Requirement, then?"

Dante gave her a thumb up. "Tomorrow."

* * *

After breakfast the next day, Dante made his way down to the dungeons. There was something he wanted to talk to Snape about.

The professor in question was in his office, labeling and capping bottles of various shapes and sizes.

"I want you to teach me apparition," Dante told him without preamble.

"And everyone must cater to our precious savior's wants, I suppose," Snape retorted without missing a beat. He walked to the potions' cabinet with the bottles clutched in both hands.

"Oh, you're hilarious. Listen, I've got to learn it to fight demons. I'm stuck here, and demons are having free reign outside."

"I'm sure the human hunters are doing fine without your little 'partying sessions'," said Snape.

"There isn't any in Scotland," said Dante. "The only one died last year. The uglies' been pretty quiet this year, but who knows when they'll start acting up again?"

Snape didn't respond. He was meticulously arranging the bottles on the shelf.

"Tell you what," Dante offered, "I don't get it in one hour, you can call it quits." He was confident that he could muster it within that timeframe. It usually didn't take him more than a few tries to learn a new skill, and he could already teleport a short distance without using human magic.

Snape's hands stilled. At least he seemed to be considering it.

"Seven o'clock, tomorrow evening," the Potions' Master said after a long time, not turning to face him. "Just outside the school boundary on the east side. Should anyone express curiosity, you were guilty of misbehaving in the corridors and assigned detention."

Dante saluted him. "Right-o, sir."

* * *

The Room of Requirement had turned into something resembling a circular battle arena. The floor was covered in dirt to cushion a fall, and though the room was very well lit, there were no visible light sources to obscure the vision.

Satisfied with their surroundings, Dante and Trish took up positions in the center of the circle, about ten feet away from each other.

"Sure you don't want a sword?" Dante asked. He was holding Rebellion loosely at his side.

"No need," said Trish. She was standing with her hands held up in front of her, fists open. "I'm proficient with these."

Dante looked at his own sword and threw it to one side. He wasn't bad at hand-to-hand, either.

He waited for her to make the first move, but she seemed to be waiting for him. Well, it wasn't his style, but... with a small shrug, he threw the first punch.

Trish blocked it with her forearm. Taking a swift step back, she aimed a roundhouse kick at his face. Dante ducked under and then jumped up, bringing his feet together as he came down, aiming for Trish's head. She rolled to one side, getting to her feet and bringing her arm up in a swift uppercut. Rather than dodging, Dante gripped her hand and twisted it behind her back, holding his other hand balled into a fist at her neck.

He smirked. "Your mo-"

With her free hand, Trish elbowed him straight on the nose. There was a dull thud of bones colliding, and Dante stepped back, releasing her arm, surprised at the strength. He had no time to recover as Trish hit him with a high side kick, throwing him to one side of the room. Dante barely got out of the way of the incoming switchblade that the room had conjured out of nowhere to aid Trish. "Whoa! Nice one!" he called back, even though he was certain Trish wasn't supposed to use blades. A switchblade wouldn't have hurt him - much.

He touched his nose gingerly. It wasn't broken, but definitely sore. Trish was tougher than he'd thought.

Grinning, he ran forward, towards his opponent. She was again standing with her fists raised. "Is that all you've got?" she said mockingly.

Dante responded with a right hook that she blocked. He immediately followed it up with a swinging leg that she just barely ducked. Before she could stand up properly, Dante raised his right foot and brought it down on her shoulder. She groaned, falling back. Dante followed after, kicked her in the stomach once and stepped on her arm before she could get off the floor.

"Give up?" he said with a smile.

Trish's eyes glinted. Dante couldn't see what she could do; after all, she was well and truly pinned -

A sudden surge of burning pain shot through him. Dante cried out, falling back several steps. Trish had grabbed onto his leg and was sending electricity up and down his entire body. Still holding onto him and not stopping her eloctrocution, she got to her feet and hit him with a swift spinning hook kick. Dante slammed into the wall and fell to the floor on his hands and knees. Before he could push himself up, Trish grabbed onto Rebellion, which he had left on the floor at the beginning of the fight, and threw it at him. Dante had no chance to defend himself as the sword went straight through his heart.

The agony that accompanied an impaling was something Dante didn't think he would ever get used to. The breath left him in a rush; his eyes automatically fell shut as he focused on breathing through the pain. However, before he had completed the first shuddering inhale, the burning pain from before came back - radiating from his chest - Trish was electrocuting him through the sword. Dante screamed; he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and the pain was not stopping - why wasn't she stopping...?

Another sword pierced his chest only inches from the first, and his eyes flew open from the shock of it. Through hazy vision, everything swimming in and out of focus, he could see that Trish had ordered the room to conjure several more swords. She wouldn't stop, he realized, not unless he made her stop. He didn't fight it anymore - he triggered.

The two swords flew out of him, and suddenly Dante could move again - the pain was still there, but it was no longer hindering him. Catching one of the swords, he threw it at Trish; it missed her head by exactly half a foot and embedded itself in the wall behind her.

That seemed to have shaken her out of it. Trish stopped the electrocution abruptly, and the look on her face was one of pure horror. Dante stepped towards her with the other sword clutched in his hand.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Oh my... I'm so sorry..."

With a flash, Dante changed back to his human form.

"Care to explain?" he said with a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes, which were still clouded with pain.

"I told you..." she said miserably, "I'm not used to friendly spars. In the demon world, we fight to kill. The Emperor likes it."

"Does he?" Dante said evenly. "Yeah, well..." his smile was more friendly this time. "We'll just have to work on it, don't we? Putting aside the fact that blades kind of ruin the point of hand-to-hand, that was pretty well done."

"Thank you..." she said slowly. "Really, I'm sorry."

"No permanent damage," Dante said lightly, forcing himself to keep smiling. "Hey, about these beauties you got from the room - what'd you say we work on your sword skills? It'd be a shame to let these blades go to waste. Don't worry, just practice; no sparring."

* * *

They had worked on about ten different moves when Dante decided to call it quits. As much as he hated to admit it, he was far from healed and even these basic moves were exhausting him. He wouldn't have managed to teach so many moves if Trish hadn't been an extraordinarily fast learner when it came to fighting. They stopped just ten minutes before he was to meet Snape for his Apparating lesson.

"Are you alright now?" Trish asked as they walked out of the room.

"More or less." Dante shrugged. In reality, all he wanted to do was sleep. It had been a long time - four years to be exact - since he had been so badly injured.

Trish was giving him the guilty eyes again. Dante gave her another smile of the 'I'm-okay' variety. "Hey, stop blaming yourself, alright? It was my fault too - you said you weren't used to this, and I should've been more careful."

She fidgeted a little. "I don't think Professor Dumbledore will see it that way."

"Why does he have to know?" Dante said with a laugh. "I'm telling no one that I got my ass kicked by a firstie."

A relieved look crossed her face. "Thank you," she said. "You get some rest, then?"

"Actually... there's some stuff that I gotta do."

* * *

"You're late," Snape said by way of greeting. He was standing behind a large stone boulder only a few meters from the entrance gates.

Dante shrugged. "Nah, you're early. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're looking forward to this!"

"Good thing you know better," Snape retorted without missing a beat. "Ten points from Gryffindor for tardiness."

Dante chuckled. "Seriously? You're too predictable."

"Indeed?" Snape said loftily. "And yet, you keep making the same mistakes. Shall we begin?"

He pointed to a spot under a tree. "That is your destination," he said. "Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. You must remember the three D's if you are to attempt Apparating and Disapparating. Now, try it."

Kind of like Tricking, but... "That's it?"

"It's hardly as simple as it sounds. The destination must be clear in one's mind, and there must be the appropriate amount of deliberate determination. You have one hour."

Dante was beginning to regret his decision of sparring this evening. It was hard to concentrate when pain shot through his chest with every movement. His healing was working slower than usual; he guessed that it was due to the large amount of demonic energy that had gone into the wounds. Trish's electricity was quite formidable.

Some of his hesitations must have shown on his face because Snape was giving him a slightly puzzled look. Dante looked away from him; he knew that Snape was a very good Legilimens, and he didn't think the professor would be very happy about the sparring incident. He could handle Snape, but this time he wouldn't be the one in trouble. "Say," he said, careful not to make eye contact, "What happens if I mess up one of the three? A trip to the bottom of the ocean or something?"

He could almost feel Snape's eyes boring holes into the top of his head. "Unlikely," he responded eventually. "Unless that is the destination you have in mind. Most likely, you will not Apparate at all if you cannot fix a destination. If there is insufficient determination, on the other hand," there was a weighted pause, "Your body will split into parts and arrive in different locations."

Dante had sustained nearly all sorts of grievous injuries; however...

"Well, that's new," he said.

Snape didn't respond, so Dante focused on the task at hand. He waited until he was sure he had fixed his destination. Then he spun on the spot, because he had seen others do it when they Apparated.

The sudden movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through his chest, breaking his concentration for a split second. He had no time to dwell on it, as in the next moment, the world around him blurred. It felt like he was being squeezed through a very thin tube. When everything came back into focus, he was under the tree - sans his left hand, which was still lying where he had been standing.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Dante raised his right hand and performed a wandless Summoning Charm. The severed hand flew to his outstretched palm. The half-demon pressed it to his bleeding wrist, which had not, thankfully, healed over yet.

"Will it reattach naturally?" Snape's tone was sharp with concern.

"Yeah, should be fine." Dante let go of his left hand. It still hurt, but the bones had melded and the muscles were knitting themselves back together. "Let's try it again."

The second time he was so focused on bracing himself for the pain that he didn't manage to Apparate at all. The third time he was missing a fingernail - which he just let regrow. It wasn't until the eleventh time, by when the pain in his chest had faded to a dull throb, that he managed to do it perfectly.

"Congratulations," Snape said dryly. "You have learned how to break the law."

"Nah, learned that years ago." Dante grinned, flexing his left hand. "I'm not actually supposed to drive, according to muggle law. Thanks, by the way."

Snape waved a dismissive hand. "Make sure you only use that when you have to. Also, remember that destinations you cannot see at the time are harder to Apparate to."

Dante met his eyes for a fraction of a second, raising his eyebrows. "That a challenge?"

"Think of it what you will." Snape's tone was nonchalant.

Closing his eyes, Dante spun on the spot and Disapparated. When he opened them, he was standing in front of Grimmauld Place.

Grinning to himself, he Apparated back to the Gates, a few feet away from his teacher. "Too easy!"

Snape scoffed in response. "If you are expecting me to laud you for your success, you will be sorely disappointed. Now come, I have scarab beetles that need grinding."

Dante opened his mouth to protest - he was exhausted - but realized that would raise more questions than he was prepared to answer. "Getting weak in your old age?" he said. "Well, I'm always up for lending a hand to the needy."

Snape took a few moments to answer. "Merlin's hat, boy," he hissed finally, frustration bleeding into his voice. "Who are you protecting?"

Startled, Dante looked up at the Potions' Master. The intense gaze immediately made him look down again. "Whatcha talking about," he mumbled.

"You know perfectly well," sneered Snape. "But if you insist on this ridiculous charade... " he stepped back, leaving the path open, "You may go."

Dante took the chance to leave. He didn't know why he felt so guilty as he walked back up to the castle. It hadn't been his secret to tell, he told himself. It wasn't his place to reveal someone else's mistakes.

Before going to bed, he tried transforming again. He ended up with talons. They were too small to be that of a dragon and too large to be that of a phoenix. Frustrated and confused, he decided to finally rest for the night.

* * *

Christmas at Hogwarts started out no different from any other day of the holidays. After all, Dante had no friends to celebrate it with. To top it off, Trish had taken off to God-knew-where. The highlight of the morning had undoubtedly been Hermione's gift.

She had sent a red leather coat that repaired itself. Not only that, the pockets were charmed, with large compartments within; easily big enough to secure all the weapons he owned.

The highlight of the evening surpassed that gift; Dante finally changed into his true animagus form an hour before dinner.

At first, he had no idea what he was, except for the fact that he was considerably bigger; at least twice that of his human form. His head easily brushed the ceiling of the dormitory.

Then came the awareness of energy thrumming through him - energy like the one he had felt when Trish had lent him her strength back during the second demonic attack.

He looked down at himself. He resembled an eagle. That puzzled him; he had been quite sure he had four legs. He craned his neck to look behind him, and finally realized what he was.

His hind legs were that of a lion, complete with a tail.

 _A Griffin!_

But not a normal Griffin, as was obvious from the newfound demonic energy. He concentrated on a spot outside the window and channeled some of his power. A red beam of lightning shot from his chest and impacted the ground there, charring it.

A demon, after all... Dante thought, not unhappily. Not the kind of magical being he was looking for, but definitely powerful. Possibly more than a dragon. Also, it was something capable of flying; that was always a good advantage. After all, he had heard from Harry that a relatively small bird like Fawkes was able to blind the Basilisk...

 _Wait..._

Dante changed back and dashed from the room, straight down to the dungeons.

Snape looked up sharply from a book when Dante barged in. "What?" he said.

"Where's Voldemort staying?" said Dante.

Surprise was evident on Snape's face. "Why would you require that information?"

"C'mon! You've told Uncle Albus, haven't you?"

"If he sees it fit to tell you, he would." Snape leaned back in his chair and raised his book in front of his face, signifying the end of conversation.

Annoyed, Dante snapped, "Thanks for nothing!" and left the office midway through Snape's drawl of "Five points for your cheek."

* * *

Dumbledore proved to be as stubborn as Snape, in his own way.

"I must know what you would do with that information," he said. "I cannot put Severus in danger of exposure."

"I won't put him in danger!" Dante said, stung.

"Not intentionally, no."

Dante fell silent, thinking. "If I tell you I'm doing something against the Ministry, are you going to force me to drop it?"

"Oh, I'm not under the illusion that I can force you to do anything," said Dumbledore, smiling.

That wasn't an answer, and Dante knew it.

In the end, he decided to give the answer without revealing his method. "I'm going to kill Voldemort's snake."

"Would you?" said Dumbledore, and his eyes were sharp. "However would you achieve it, without showing your face? Polyjuice, perhaps?"

"What if I do?" Dante challenged. "All you need to know is that I won't reveal who I am."

"I must know the method of disguise to know if it is an effective one," said Dumbledore.

Was a Griffin an effective disguise? Dante had to wonder. Voldemort would not suspect a magical creature to be an animagus or an animal serving Dumbledore, surely?

To know for sure, he would have to tell Dumbledore, who would no doubt tell him to register with the ministry.

But perhaps not just yet... because then Fudge was as likely to sentence him to Azkaban as he was to accept his registration. Dumbledore would need leverage against the ministry to force them to accept him as an animagus, and he certainly didn't have that now.

Dante glanced up at the ceiling to see if it was high enough. Satisfied with what he saw, he took a few steps until he was in the middle of the office, away from most of the breakable equipment. He closed his eyes and concentrated, transforming in little more than a second.

Dumbledore stood up so fast Dante was surprised he didn't lose his balance. His eyes had widened. Dante smirked inwardly; he had caught Albus Dumbledore off guard.

"Most impressive," Dumbledore said after a brief moment, circling him slowly. "Would I be correct in assuming that you have certain... additional powers?"

"Yeah," Dante responded without thinking. To his bewilderment, it came out in English, if in a deeper tone. "Wanna watch?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "It would be a shame to dissuade you."

"Stand back." Dante focused on one of the visitor's chairs, and with a bright red flash, it disintegrated.

The headmaster clapped his hands once together. "Splendid!" he said, beaming. "This is not a form Lord Voldemort would suspect to be connected to me, in any way. However, I would still appreciate it if you would refrain from using the demonic abilities while in his presence. Now, onto the matter of size. I'm quite doubtful you would be able to enter Lord Voldemort's current lodgings without destroying it. I believe... yes... a simple Shrinking Solution ought to do the trick."

Dante frowned, though he was quite sure it didn't show. A little exasperated at having to bend his head to look at his great-uncle, he changed back to his human form. "Good ol' Snape again?" he said, retaking his seat in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Oh, I'm sure he won't refuse a request from an old man," Dumbledore said mildly. "And Dante, I would have told you to register, had your form not been a demon. That said, should I find a way to discreetly register you with the ministry, I need you to swear you will agree to it."

Dante shrugged. "I might."

Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling. "Dante, I want you to swear to me."

"Fine," said Dante, after a long moment. "But only if there's no hassle."

"Good." Dumbledore stood and walked to his floo, disappearing in a swirl of green flames. Taking the cue, Dante shifted back to his Griffin form.

The headmaster soon emerged with a vial in hand. Beside him was a house-elf sporting a tea-cozy.

"Lord Voldemort is staying at the Malfoy Manor tonight," he said. "That's where his snake is likely to be. Dobby will show you the way."

"It is a great honour to be meeting you, Dante Dumbledore, sir!" the house-elf squeaked. "Dobby is hearing lots of great things about you!"

"A fan? Nice," Dante briefly rested a talon on a bony shoulder. "Won't they see him?" he said to Dumbledore, puzzled.

"He will be concealed with a Disillusionment Charm."

He nodded to the vial in the old wizard's hand. "Will that shrink my normal form, too?"

"No," said Dumbledore, smiling. With a wave of his wand, the potion inside the vial filled Dante's mouth, who closed it and swallowed reflexively. There was a 'pop', and next moment he was looking up at Dumbledore.

"I'm what, four feet?" he said, scowling.

"No smaller than Fawkes." Dumbledore had the audacity to smile innocently.

Dante extended a talon; Dobby took hold of it. They both disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Dante found himself standing in the middle of a room decorated in green and gold. Expensive looking paintings and ornaments adorned the walls. A few sofas were neatly arranged around a table. He guessed it to be the living room. Thankfully, it was empty.

"Meeting room's right through there, sir," Dobby said quietly, pointing to a door on the far right.

"Stay here, okay?" Dante whispered back. "Anything goes wrong, you scram."

The elf began to vigorously protest; he silenced it with one flash of his eyes. Despite that, however, he had a feeling the elf wouldn't leave without him. Harry had told him about the elf's misguided hero complex.

He spread his wings and bent his body until it was vertical with the floor to fit through the door. Voldemort was sitting with dozens of Death Eaters. Dante only recognized Lucius Malfoy and Snape. At his entrance, nearly everyone screamed. One - Wormtail, he thought - turned into a rat and scurried away.

No matter. He got to work.

The snake was coiled around Voldemort's chair leg. Dante made a sweeping dive and it hissed, uncoiling to follow him with its eyes.

Voldemort pointed his wand at Dante. "Avada Kedavra," he said in a lazy voice.

Dante dodged easily, and then, unable to resist, he struck him in the face with the tail.

Voldemort hissed oddly like his snake. "Kill it!" he cried, lifting his wand again.

Swooping down again, Dante plucked one of the snake's eye clean off. It writhed in pain, and Dante struck it again, this time with his hind legs. The snake slumped to the floor, blood gushing from its empty eye socket. Dante flew sideways to avoid another green beam of light.

"No! Stop!" Voldemort was screaming at his Death Eaters. "You'll hit Nagini!"

The snake tried to bite him. Dante flew upwards; he was about to sweep down and deliver the fatal strike when Voldemort suddenly grabbed his snake's tail and stood from his chair.

He was clearly about to disapparate; which meant it was time to stop playing around.

Dante used both talons to grab the neck of the snake, and clamped his beak down on its midsection. With a great pull, the snake's body was severed in two.

Voldemort screamed, an inhuman wail of pure rage. Dante resisted an overwhelming urge to crack a joke at all the drama. That fight had been, all considering, rather anticlimactic.

Instead, he flew to the next room, clutched Dobby with a talon, and flew them both out a window.

"Done," he said. "C'mon Dobby, Apparate us to Hogwarts."

* * *

"Well done, as always," Dumbledore told him, smiling.

Dante was washing his mouth using a sink Dumbledore had conjured up. "I tasted the thing!" he groaned.

Dumbledore smiled sympathetically, but his eyes were twinkling madly.

"Anyway," said Dante, "Only one more horcrux to go, right?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore said quietly. "Question is: What is it, and where?"

* * *

All things considered, Dante was quite proud of his accomplishments of the day. Definitely one of the better days at Hogwarts this year, he thought. relaxing as he burrowed further into the sofa near the common room fire.

He looked up when Trish entered, snowflakes scattered all over her long blonde hair.

"You missed the feast," he said. "Tough luck, huh?"

She ignored the comment as she took a seat near the fire and faced him.

"The Emperor is planning to return very soon," she said.

Dante blinked. "Well, that's no good," he said, smirking, "We haven't even printed the invitation cards!"

She stared at him. "What?"

"Invitation cards?" he said, frowning. "Y'know, because Mundus coming back means one hell of a party, and..." he sighed at her blank look. "Never mind. You're still an Earth newbie. I forget sometimes."

She shook her head slowly. "Earth customs are strange," she said. "So you aren't afraid? Of his coming?"

Dante shrugged a little. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Any idea how he's going to do it?"

"No," she said. "I am not privy to that sort of information. Well, I'm off to rest. It's been a long day."

"Yeah..." Dante watched as she disappeared up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. When he heard the door close, he let out a slow breath and buried his face in shaking hands.

He had absolutely no idea how he was going to stop Mundus.

* * *

 **Quick question: Did you all like Dante's animagus form? Or do you think it should've been something else?**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: I actually broke up one big chapter into two shorter ones, so the next chapter should be out soon, as well. That's the reason for this chapter being shorter than usual.**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Harry, Ron and Hermione came back at the beginning of January, the day before classes were due to start. Harry seemed much more cheerful after having spent some time at his godfather's house. The mood dampened noticeably after the Daily Prophet revealed a mass breakout at Azkaban, which meant that about ten of Voldemort's most dangerous Death Eaters were now on the loose.

It seemed to be the final straw for Harry because, on their February Hogsmeade weekend, he finally gave an interview describing Voldemort's return that was published in the Wizarding World's most unreliable magazine: The Quibbler. Despite the unhealthy reputation of the paper in which the story was published, Dante was happy to see that nearly everyone in Hogwarts now seemed to believe Harry; a fact that Umbridge was definitely not happy about, judging by the fact that she banned the magazine immediately.

At the end of February, Trelawney, the Divination professor, was sacked by Umbridge on account of being an incompetent teacher. Her replacement turned out to be a centaur named Firenze, one Dante was very familiar with. He had been the one to awaken his Trigger, after all.

The arrival of a centaur in the school certainly made some waves. For one thing, most of the girls were infatuated. An annoyed Hermione confided in Dante that Firenze was all the girls in her dormitory were talking about.

Firenze didn't seem as interested in girls, however, as he was in giving cryptic warnings. On the centaur's first day at Hogwarts, Dante went to meet him to offer congratulations on his employment. On seeing him, however, Firenze drew him aside.

"You would do well to confide in the Headmaster," he said.

"About what?" Dante felt thrown.

"Anything or anyone that jeopardizes or has jeopardized your well-being," said the centaur. "It is not only your welfare that is at stake."

Immediately, Umbridge's detentions popped into his head. "Yeah?" he said. "I guess..."

"Dante Sparda," Firenze said firmly, "You would do well to heed me. Your safety is linked to many others', including your friends and your sister."

"Trish?" Dante couldn't quite keep the alarm out of his voice. Out of all his acquaintances, she and Snape were the ones living the most dangerous lives. "Okay, relax," he said. "I'll tell the old man if something happens."

* * *

But there was nothing to tell Dumbledore about. There were no detentions and no demons through the entirety of February and March. He kept a close eye on Trish during that time. There were a few times when she had to leave to report to Mundus, but other than that, it was uneventful.

That was, except for another Decree being passed.

 **Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven**

 **"All Student Organisations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. An Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge). No Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled."**

"Someone must've told on us," said Ron.

"We'd have known if they did," said Hermione. "I put a jinx on the parchment we all signed on. Trust me, if anyone said anything, they wouldn't be able to hide."

"What's going to happen to them?" asked Trish.

"More importantly," said Dante, "Why didn't you tell everyone that? Y'know, prevention before punishment, or something like that."

Hermione looked a little embarrassed. "Er... I don't really think so many people would've joined if I did."

"That's... actually a pretty good point," said Ron.

"Yeah," Dante pressed, "but what's stopping you from telling them now?"

"Fine," said Hermione, looking slightly flushed, "I'll tell them when we hold the next meeting."

Said next proved to be the most eventful meeting they'd had so far. Instead of Harry giving everyone a task for the day, Dante stepped up to speak.

"Today, my fellow members," he said dramatically, "you'll be fighting your very first demon."

A fifth-year girl - Marietta, her name probably was, gasped loudly and turned on her heel to leave, but Harry's crush grabbed her and whispered something in her ear. Scowling, the girl stopped.

"He's pretty high-class-" Marietta shrugged off the other girl's grip and ran from the room. Dante watched her go with a smirk; then he turned back to the others. "-but we're on pretty good terms. He won't kill or seriously injure any of you."

He saw Harry, Ron and Hermione exchange puzzled glances.

"So," Dante went on, "I can promise you no one will be hurt more than you can be from... say, a Quidditch game. If that's too scary for you," he narrowed his eyes slightly, "Back out. Right now."

He couldn't see a single set of eyes completely devoid of fear. The younger Creevy brother and Lavender Brown, in particular, looked terrified. And yet, no one moved from their positions.

Dante clapped his hands once. "Alright, I'll send it in."

* * *

In Harry's opinion, the concept of one of those hideous, monstrous-looking demons being 'friendly' was, frankly, a little hard to take in. Maybe he was biased from the other demons he had seen. After all, there were nice creatures that looked menacing... like Buckbeak.

He kept these thoughts to himself. The same could not be said for Ron, who was getting an earful from Hermione about 'speciesism'.

"It's like the house-elves all over again!" she exclaimed. "Not all full-blooded demons are evil, Ron."

"Yeah? Name one," Ron challenged.

"Sparda," Hermione said promptly.

"He was plenty evil once," the redhead snorted.

"You ought to at least trust Tony!" she snapped.

"He isn't even here," Ron retorted.

"Exactly! He wouldn't have left if he didn't think it-"

Hermione's words trailed off into a cry of alarm. It wasn't only her; nearly everyone had screamed as what could only be described as a whirlwind flew in through the passage. Harry grabbed Ron and Colin Creevy and threw all three of them onto the floor as the thing passed only a foot or two over their heads, coming to a stop in the middle of the room.

At first, Harry thought it was a hippogriff. But as it flapped its brown wings, beady eyes sweeping over them, he caught a glimpse of its rear end; the hind legs and tail were clearly that of a lion's.

"A Griffin," Hermione whispered in amazement. "But... they're not demons!"

The creature turned towards her at those words. Harry watched, horror coiling in his stomach, as its eyes began to glow an electric red.

"Hermione, MOVE!" he yelled.

But she seemed to have frozen. Ginny seized her and pulled her back as a beam of lightning impacted the floor about a meter from where she had been standing, spreading cracks all around the spot. The attack, which would have clearly been lethal had it hit, finally spurred everyone into action. Despite earlier bravery, Lavender Brown ran for the door, only to squeak and run the other way when another beam impacted just above the exit. Alicia shouted, "KILL IT!" and two Impedimenta and a stunner shot towards the demon. It took to the air to dodge them and made a downward sweep toward the seventh year. She jumped to the side, but one of the wings still found her and knocked her to the ground.

"Reductor Curse!" cried Harry, "All together... aim for its wings! REDUCTO!"

About half a dozen jets of blue light joined his own. Only one managed to hit it... and only a talon at that. The demon curled the limb close to itself but otherwise gave no reaction that it had even noticed the injury. The creature's speed was unreal; in such a closed space, with such an enormous body, it should have been harder to miss a spell than to land a hit, but the Griffin was nimbly dodging spells while still taking the DA members out one by one. Ginny went down to a swipe of its talons across her arm; it didn't look serious, but the force had knocked her wand to the far end of the room. Terry Boot's wand had been thrown into the passage. Hermione's wand had been swatted out of her hand by a powerful sweep of a wing.

The creature was protecting its vital parts very well. The spells that did hit never found any important area of its body. They would have to cast something that would have the same effect no matter which body part it impacted, Harry thought. Now came the question of how to get the demon in a position where the spell would actually hit. The answer was simple - they needed a bait.

"Fred, George, throw fireworks at it!" he called.

The twins didn't throw one. More than a dozen of them exploded around the demon. It turned its head, pinpointed Fred and George, and dived towards them.

"Stunner all together!" yelled Harry.

Only about fifteen still had their wands, but they all lifted them at Harry's words.

The demon seemed to realize that something was wrong - it suddenly whirled and made a beeline for Harry.

Immediately, the room was bathed in red lights. The Griffin was thrown out of the air mid-dive and landed heavily on the floor, still twitching slightly. The room went silent, until-

"Confringo!" screamed Anthony Goldstein and Ernie McMillian, together, pointing their wands at its now unprotected neck.

"NO!" shrieked Hermione.

Instead of the neck, the spells impacted one of its wings that the demon had raised to protect itself. The resulting blast of heat charred most of the feathers of the tip of that wing. A low groan came from the creature, a sound that raised the hairs on Harry's arms. It almost sounded human...

Then it struggled up to a standing position, surprisingly quickly considering the fact that it hadn't even tried to dodge the Blasting Curses, and somehow balanced itself on its hind legs to hop into the passage and disappear from view.

A second of stunned silence, and then the room erupted in joyous celebrations. Members thumped one another on the back or high-fived - Cho and Hannah actually hugged each other.

"Great plan, Harry!" Ron said happily. Harry grinned in response.

His grin faded soon. It seemed not everyone was celebrating. Hermione was standing in a corner, her brows furrowed, her face solemn.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Ron quietly.

"Probably just annoyed that she got disarmed," Ron smirked.

* * *

Dante bent down to pick up Boot's wand from the floor of the tunnel. He grimaced slightly as the movement caused his shirt to brush against the burn on his back. It would heal in a few minutes, though. Magical injuries never bothered him for long. Had it been demonic energy, it would have taken longer.

The Stunners had been something else. He had been hit by one Stupefy before, but thirteen was... rather a lot. It hadn't hurt, exactly, but it had made him pretty damn sluggish. Dante couldn't help but feel a little pleased about having found a new weapon against demons; if it affected him this way, then a bunch of Stunners would definitely bring down a Scarecrow or two. This technique wouldn't be of much use to him, but it could come in handy for wizards.

He wouldn't have been hurt at all if it weren't for those two morons, Dante thought in annoyance. If they hadn't cast Confringo, of all things...

Overall, the performance was definitely better than expected, but would they perform this well against demons that didn't hold back?

"That was awesome!" cried Dean as Dante re-entered the room.

"Let's go again!" said Neville. Dante grinned in approval; he remembered Neville as the only member of the group to have landed two hits on him - a Reductor Curse that had temporarily damaged his talon(now his left foot) and a Stunner.

"About that," he said, "I was thinking about letting you all take on a group of the uglies. Minor demons, nothing to worry too much about."

"Are you going to help take them down?" said Zacharias Smith. His question didn't seem to be hostile; on the contrary, it almost looked as though he would enjoy it more if Dante didn't intervene. That was quite a turn-around from his attitude before facing Dante's animagus form, the half-demon thought happily. The fight had apparently done wonders for everyone's spirits.

"Not if you don't need it," Dante said offhandedly. He smirked at the eager look on most members' faces. "Not tonight, though, it's already pretty late. Next session, I guess. Oh, and one other thing - don't use Confringo in closed spaces. It rebounds 'till it finds a target, so you can accidentally take out yourself or one of your friends."

"How'd you know we cast that?" Goldstein asked, frowning.

"The demon picked up on it," said Dante, grinning. "Yeah, it understood you. Not all demons are dumb, trust me. The high-classes usually understand human languages. So don't yell strategies to each other."

He barely suppressed a laugh as Harry, Fred and George exchanged guilty looks.

"Okay," he said, "I'm out of lesson plans. Harry?"

They spent the rest of the time practicing the Patronus Charm. By the end of the class, four members, including Hermione, had managed to produce silver wisps that were apparently called non-corporeal Patronus. Dante, needless to say, hadn't been one of them. Strangely, neither had been Trish.

"What'd you think about?" he asked her as they were wrapping things up.

"Isn't that... what do you people call it... private?" she smiled.

Dante laughed. "Whatever."

"Hi." He turned to see Luna Lovegood staring at a point above his head.

"Yeah?" he said, not sure if it was him she was talking to.

"Did you get the demon from the Ministry?" she asked.

Dante blinked, now uncertain whether he had heard her right. "The Ministry of Magic?"

"Yes." She was now looking him in the eye. Her gaze was surprisingly intense. "You don't have to hide it from me. I know all about it."

"About what?" He was entirely lost.

"That Cornelius Fudge is summoning demons," she said.

Dante swallowed thickly to prevent an explosion of laughter. "Is that right?"

She must have had heard the mirth in his voice because she full-on glared at him. "There have been sightings in the Ministry," she said. "No one has died, so I think they're friendly demons. I was just wondering if you brought one from there. It's alright if you didn't, but you don't have to laugh about it."

But his mirth had long since faded. "Sightings?"

"Several Ministry workers have admitted to it, but the Prophet won't publish anything - like they didn't want to publish Harry's interview. My father published it, of course."

Dante took a quick look around the room. Hermione wasn't nearby. "Can you get me a copy of that Quibbler edition?"

* * *

On Friday night, Dante reclined against a pillow on his bed and opened the issue of the Quibbler Luna had lent him.

The story he was looking for was on the third page, sandwiched between a report of Nargles sighting in England and an article on how to recognize a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

 _Cornelius Fudge Summoning Demons to Wipe Out All Goblins_

 _The vicious creatures roam the corridors at night, according to workers_

 _Long thought to have vanished from the human world, demons have passed into myths and legends. However, the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, in his latest attempt to crush goblins before they can rebel once again, has decided to bring them back into our world._

 _On assurances that their names would not be mentioned, several Unspeakables have stated that demons have been seen coming out of a specific room in the Department of Mysteries. They refused to mention which room, as it is against their oaths to disclose anything in relation to the department's functions._

 _'They don't hurt anyone,' one Unspeakable said. This leads one to conclude that their target is not humanity in general. The target may be Mr. Fudge's worst fear, Albus Dumbledore, but more likely it is yet another of his savage schemes to-_

"Hem, hem."

Dante was not one to startle, but this time he almost jumped out of his skin. "What are you doing here?" he snarled at the pink-clad woman standing in front of him. At the Gryffindor Tower. In the Boy's Dormitory.

"May I see what you were reading, Mr. Sparda?" she said with a sickly sweet smile, ignoring the full-blown commotion around them as everyone else realized just who had gotten into their room. "Funny, I could have sworn the Ministry has passed a Decree considering that magazine. One that specifically stated that anyone in possession of the Quibbler-" her smile widened, "will be expelled."

"No!" cried Neville. A second later, Dante was surrounded by all of his roommates. They stood protectively on either side of him, glaring daggers at Umbridge. Dante glanced at them once; he had to keep his cool now, or they'd lose it, too.

"Really?" he snorted. "You can't expect me to remember all the one thousand and one Decree you've passed, can you?"

Unsurprisingly, that didn't break the tension.

"Are you denying your knowledge of it, Mr. Sparda?" Umbridge still hadn't lost her smile.

"So what if I am?"

"Can you prove it?"

She had him there. Dante looked away.

"So!" she cried triumphantly. "I'll have that tabloid... that's it... I shall send for you shortly, Mr. Sparda! As soon as I can arrange the appointment with Cornelius... yes, he ought to hear of it. I rather think you will be banned from using magic altogether this time around... he was so lenient the last time..."

She disappeared down the stairs.

"Impossible..." Ron breathed.

"How?" whispered Seamus. "How'd she know...?"

Harry only stood in stunned disbelief. It all seemed surreal to Dante, too. He was going to be expelled...? Over something so minor as reading a magazine?

Sudden anger overtook him, and he jumped up from his bed. Seamus and Dean hastily moved out of striking range. That fueled his rage.

"You're happy, aren't you?" he hissed at Seamus, who took a step back in shock. "I know you wanted me gone the first time!"

"T-that was before!" said the boy. "I don't want-" he took a steadying breath. "You fight demons," he said quietly. "Everyone knows that now. I don't want you to be expelled."

"Yeah..." Dante deflated; the rage leaving him just as suddenly as it had come. "I know."

"Tony!"

Hermione came running up the stairs, Neville in tow. They hadn't even noticed when he'd left. "Tony," she said in a rush, "you can't let them expel you."

"Let-?" Dante began, incredulous.

"If you go, demons will wrack the school, and Fudge can't allow that, it's going to destroy his reputation, so you'll have to tell them, and they can't expel you for this, you're too valuable, they'll have to see that!"

She said this all in one breath. Dante stared at her for a moment, allowing all that she said to sink in.

"Alright," he said slowly, "You think that'll work?"

"It has to work," she said firmly. She turned on Harry. "Go see Professor Dumbledore and tell him what happened - he can help! I'll go to Professor Flitwick."

"I'll bring Sprout," said Ron, and he took off running.

"McGonagall," said Seamus, and he left, too.

"Madame Pomfrey," said Dean.

Neville looked down at the floor, gulping once. Then he looked up with a determined expression. "I'll tell Professor Snape."

Dante sat in silence as the room emptied. His heart was hammering in his chest. There hadn't been a demon attack in so long... what if that excuse no longer applied?

"Don't worry."

Even in the shadow of the doorway, the glint of light in Trish's waist-long hair was unmistakable, as difficult to miss as the smile in her voice. The latter grated on Dante's nerves; he bit back a retort, opting to stay silent.

"I know someone who can help, too," she said when it became clear Dante wasn't going to respond. "You're not getting thrown out on my watch." She didn't wait for an answer. There was the telltale crackle of electricity, a flash of golden light, and she was gone.

The waiting was torture in itself. Dante stayed still for about a few minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. He got off the bed, nodding decisively to himself. If he had to go, might as well face his fate head-on.

* * *

 **So... yeah. I ended it there. Thoughts? Any ideas about what Firenze's warning was about, perhaps?**

 **Reply to unsigned review:**

 **Guest: Thanks for reviewing. I usually update when I am satisfied with my writing. If I try to hurry too much, there is a possibility the reading material will not be up to standard! But surely you're happy with how fast I updated this time?**

 **You have every right to be annoyed at the cliffie, but please review anyway! It might get the next chapter out faster *winks***


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

"He. Has. Done. NOTHING. WRONG!"

"He's violated a Decree from the Ministry!"

Dante folded his arms and leaned against the wall of Umbridge's office as he watched the shouting match between his Head of House and the abomination that was the High Inquisitor. Watching the Deputy Headmistress vent like that was doing wonders for his pent-up agitation.

"Come off it, Dolores," snarled McGonagall. "We all know why you banned the Quibbler, and this isn't even the same edition!"

"I'm sure I don't have to quote the Decree to you, professor!"

"It was a rubbish Decree anyway! How do you justify banning a magazine?"

"Now," said Cornelius Fudge, who was standing behind Umbridge's desk, looking irritated. "The Decree was clearly worded, Minerva. I don't see any room for objection."

"Certainly I do!" said Flitwick, his moustache quivering. "If you expel a student, you must provide at least a concrete reason as to why you're doing so!"

"He has disobeyed the Ministry, my dear sir! I do believe-"

"that it justifies you putting the entire school in danger, Cornelius?"

Dumbledore strode into the room, on his heels Professors Sprout and Snape. He swept his eyes over the occupants before fixing them on the DADA professor. "If you expel Dante, Professor Umbridge, I believe it absolves him of his duty to Hogwarts, and thus his obligation of acting against the coming danger."

"Danger-? What danger?" Fudge looked bewildered and somewhat angry. "Speak plainly, Dumbledore!"

"The demons that are about to emerge from the portal just created near the Forbidden Forest."

Umbridge turned a very pale shade of green. Fudge opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Dolores?" Sprout prompted, looking smug.

"I..." Umbridge's face scrunched. "He'll help anyway, won't you, Mr. Sparda?" she said. "Your friends are in danger, after all."

Even Snape's expression turned into one of disgust as all of the teachers pierced Umbridge with their frigid glare. Fudge was also looking a little uncomfortable. Dumbledore spoke up, calm as ever.

"Oh, he certainly may," he said. "But should you expel him, he will also be - shall we say, out of range - should this event occur again."

Fudge whitened. "But you'll keep him at school, surely?"

Dumbledore didn't speak for a few moments. Dante glanced at him in surprise, and realized, to his growing astonishment, that he could feel the powerful rage emanating from the old wizard. The very air in the room seemed to grow heavy, suffocating.

"I wouldn't have thought," Dumbledore's voice was low, quivering with anger, "that you could sink so low, Cornelius. Rest assured, not only will I not keep Dante at Hogwarts... I will not 'allow' him at Hogwarts should he be expelled again. We will have no right whatsoever to ask for his protection - yes, Cornelius, protection! Dante is the only person in the school capable of ensuring the safety of everyone when it comes to demons."

Fudge didn't speak. His face was turning various shades of pink and purple. Dante would have found it hilarious, but he was too busy being awed at his great-uncle. Yeah, he thought, the old man really deserved his reputation...

"Professor!" The door slammed against the wall as Trish ran in, panting. "Demons on the grounds!"

Everyone's gaze shifted to Fudge.

"Fine," hissed the Minister, looking disgruntled. "Fine! He will stay! But don't think he'll get off scot-free!"

Dante was out the door before the man had finished speaking. Trish followed him, easily keeping up with his longer strides. Dante abruptly turned to face her.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he said.

Trish smirked, tossing her hair back. "The Emperor sends his regards."

Dante snorted. "Great," he said. "I've got a task for you."

"Yes?" She looked intrigued.

"Send messages to every DA member. Time for another practice session."

* * *

Given the fact that they were effectively doing a session in view of the entire school, Dante was surprised when nearly everyone turned up. By that time, he had driven the demons right to the edge of the forest, far away from the castle itself. He had also thinned their numbers; there were only nine remaining.

"Consider this level 1," Dante said to the DA members as they reached him. "They're called Prides. Pretty much lives up to its name: all show and no bite. It's got a very sharp blade, though, so watch out. Reducto's best, I guess, for killing these. You can use Confringo here, too... if you miss, chances are it'll just hit a tree. Try Expelliarmus to get rid of the scythes. Fight together, don't get caught alone. Watch each others' backs."

Almost before he had finished speaking, a demon charged at them. The group scattered immediately.

"Stay together!" Harry yelled at them. A Diffindo caught one of the demons and left its head hanging precariously from its body. It walked forward on unsteady legs and tried to jump Neville, who cried, "Impedimenta!" and dived away from it.

"Reducto!" Harry shouted. Dust fell from the demon's body and it shrieked, turning to face Harry.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville and Harry said together. The scythe flew away from it, and the Pride paused, confused. With two well-placed Diffindos, they sent its head spinning off.

A few feet away, Fred, George, and Lee were taking on another demon.

"Stupify!"

"Reducto!"

"Okay, together!"

"Reducto!"

Ron and Hermione were fighting another. From the looks of it, they weren't collaborating very well.

"Oi! Get - over - here, would you?" Ron shouted at Dante, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why?" said Dante, grinning.

"Ron - concentrate!" Hermione shrieked. "St-Stupify!"

"Impedimenta!" said Ron. "Oy - keep away! Protego!"

Zacharias Smith was with Ernie McMillian and Cho Chang. The three of them were wildly shouting every curse they had in their arsenal.

"Expulso! Diffindo! Stupify! Reducto!"

They all dived in different directions as the demon slashed at them. All that was, except Ernie. At the last second, Dante appeared out of nowhere and blocked the blow with his sword, throwing the demon to one side.

Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and the Creevy brothers were all fighting one demon. Their technique, while more strategic than Zacharias' group, still left a lot to be desired.

At last, the final demon bit the dust. Three groups had needed Dante's intervention, but the rest of them - six more - had done fine on their own.

But before they could congratulate each other, the air suddenly crackled with blue electricity. A split second later, Dante blocked a blow from an enormous scythe by placing his sword in between Ginny and a Hell Vanguard - similar in shape to the Prides but much, much bigger. It made a strange, howling sound, and the scythe clanged when Rebellion clashed with it.

Dante took the chance to get through its defense and slash at it from both sides. It shrieked and disappeared. A second later, Dante shoved Anthony Goldstein out of the way as the demon came up through the ground. The half-demon was thrown up in the air and then slammed back down. Hermione cried out, but Dante stood immediately and attacked with Rebellion, stabbing it with the blade over and over.

When he finished, the demon disappeared, only to reappear in front of Harry, who jumped aside to get out of the way as Dante came sliding at it, sword outstretched. Three more blows and the demon disappeared yet again.

"Everyone, stay back!" Dante said sharply, turning in a circle to look for the demon.

When it came up this time, Dante blocked its scythe with another clanging sound. They both pulled back from the force, but the demon immediately brought its scythe down again. Dante blocked again, took a step back, and when the demon overbalanced, hit it again, five times. It crumbled and vanished.

Dante brushed the dust from his clothes. "What a letdown..."

"What was that?" said Hannah Abbott.

"A Hell Vanguard."

Dante couldn't resist a little grin when the girl eyed him with admiration. Even Smith was watching him with grudging respect.

"So... what'd you say we call it a night? After I close the gate."

"One minute," said Hermione. "If any of you still have a copy of the-"

"Hem, hem."

She jumped, but it was only Trish. The first-year girl wordlessly gestured towards Hagrid's Hut. Turning, Dante saw Umbridge looking at them, almost hidden in the shadow of the large structure.

"Y'know," he called to her, "You don't want to be there when I close the gate! The backlash's stronger than a Stunning Spell!"

Umbridge hurried away. Several people laughed.

"What were you saying?" said Susan Bones.

"It's still not safe," said Trish. She ignored the annoyed expressions and nodded towards the portal. "Shall we get this over with?"

* * *

"Detention for the rest of the year," said Umbridge, smirking at Dante.

"Outrageous!" exclaimed Madame Pomfrey. She glanced around the room - the Headmaster's office - for support.

"You cannot give the boy detentions during his O.W.L. exams," Snape said.

"Of course she can," said Fudge, looking quite happy with himself. "According to Educational Decree Number-"

Dante tuned him out. He had just realized something - if students refused to do detentions, they were expelled. But they couldn't expel Dante, which meant...

"Professor," he spoke up, smiling lopsidedly. "What makes you think I'm actually going to do any of these detentions?"

Fudge and Umbridge exchanged bewildered looks.

"You are a student," said Fudge, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, one that you can't expel," Dante reminded him.

A deafening silence fell. Dante took the moment to take in everyone's reactions. Snape was unreadable, Flitwick and Sprout looked positively giddy; Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling mischievously, Pomfrey and McGonagall wore matching smug expressions.

"You're right, I will not expel you."

For some reason, Umbridge's tone sounded suspiciously like one of triumph. Dante narrowed his eyes.

"However," she said slowly, "should you refuse to serve the detentions, Mr. Sparda, I may have no choice but to expel your... supplier."

"Supplier?"

"The one who gave you the Quibbler," she said. "A fourth-year Ravenclaw girl, was it? Mr. Malfoy couldn't supply me with her name."

How could Malfoy know...?

Luna had handed him the Quibbler when he was on the way to Potions, he realized, with a sinking feeling in his gut. He hadn't seen Malfoy or anyone else nearby, but the blonde could have been lurking about. The class was in the dungeon, after all - near the Slytherin Common Room.

"Are you blackmailing my student, Dolores?" Dumbledore's voice was deadly calm.

"Merely establishing discipline, Headmaster," simpered Umbridge. "What do you say, Mr. Sparda? Should I pay a visit to the Ravenclaw Tower? Needless to say, if I find the banned tabloid in anyone's possession there..." she trailed off deliberately.

Dante swallowed thickly. But before he could acquiesce-

"In that case," Dumbledore was, incredibly, smiling. "I will have no choice but to expel Dante, myself. If two are found guilty of the same crime, why should only one pay the price?"

Umbridge looked as though she had just been slapped across the face. Dante didn't bother hiding his gleeful grin.

"You would not put your students in danger that way!" Umbridge protested.

"If I let someone get away with blackmailing one of my students, I will already have done so," said Dumbledore.

A pregnant pause. Umbridge looked like she was barely reining in an explosion. But judging from her continued silence, she was out of cards to play.

"Well," said Fudge, "If that's all-"

"I must say, Cornelius," Dumbledore told him quietly, "that I am truly appalled by the depths you have sunken to. Are you truly so desperate to stay in office that you would give a woman of such heinous intent, control over children?"

Fudge's throat worked, but no sound emerged. His face was ashen as he stepped into the fireplace and disappeared.

One by one, the professors dispersed. Umbridge was the last to go, her fists clenched in rage.

"Thanks," Dante said to his great-uncle, studying his nails. He had never been good at expressing gratitude.

"Never hesitate to seek my help when you find yourself in trouble, Dante." Dumbledore's voice was soft. "I have asked for yours far too often."

Dante nodded, even though he disagreed with the latter part of the statement. Dumbledore had only asked for his help when demons invaded Hogwarts, and that had happened a grand total of three times. Now that he thought about it, he had to wonder if Dumbledore could have actually put a stop to what he had gone through in Umbridge's detentions. Oh well, it wasn't like he had to serve them ever again...

"May I ask," said Dumbledore, breaking his chain of thoughts, "why you were in possession of a Quibbler edition?"

"Yeah, about that," Dante said. "Did Kingsley or Tonks ever tell you about demons in the Ministry?"

Dumbledore's gaze turned piercing, but he merely said, "Not that I can remember, no."

"The Quibbler says that people saw demons in the Department of Mysteries."

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "That is certainly a claim worth investigating. I shall look into it, and should I find any truth to this, let you know."

"Thanks." It came out much more easily this time. "You know what it means if there's demons down there, right?"

"A Hell Gate," said Dumbledore. "Yes, I'm well aware."

There was not much else to say. Dante gave the Headmaster a parting wave and descended the stairs. As he made his way to his own Dormitory, he made a mental note to tell Luna to get rid of her Quibbler copies.

* * *

"I don't understand why she didn't expel me," said Luna.

It was Wednesday, and they were practicing the Patronus Charm again. Dante had managed to get silver wisps floating out of the tip of his wand, but his concentration snapped at her words.

"Didn't you burn the copies like I told you to?"

"Yes, but she caught me with it before you warned me," she answered. "She came up to the dormitory and searched my bag, you know, the night we fought all those demons."

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

"Well, I didn't think you could have done anything." Her eyes widened. "Can you erase memories?"

"No, you're right." Dante sighed in frustration. There went his chances of producing a Patronus tonight.

Trying to distract himself, he chose a different memory. It was the happiest one he could remember; his - their - sixth birthday, when they had gotten the swords. It was the last birthday they had celebrated with Sparda. He pictured Eva's beaming face-

"Expecto Patronum!"

What shot out of his wand was most definitely not a wisp. A full-sized Griffin burst from the tip and soared around the room. Dante winced.

 _Damn._

"That's the same Griffin we fought!" cried Lavender Brown.

A lot of the members were looking at the Patronus and back towards Dante. Not surprisingly, Hermione seemed to be the only one who had figured it out. She uttered a soft 'Oh!' but gave no other reaction. Dante was grateful for it, but he knew her too well to think he wouldn't catch hell for it later.

The Griffin disappeared, and everyone went back to their tasks. Hermione walked over to him then, her otter Patronus in tow.

"When did you... er... turn?" she said.

"Christmas," said Dante, knowing there was no point in denying it.

"I thought it was acting a bit like you," said Hermione. Her face grew solemn, and the otter vanished. "Especially when it let those Blasting Curses hit... but I never thought... it's really advanced, Tony! Why didn't you say anything before? You must've been trying for a good while!"

"I didn't register, for one thing," he said.

"Well, why didn't you?"

"What's the fun in that?"

"The fun...?" Hermione lowered her voice. "Tony, you can go to Azkaban for this!"

"Let them try," he grinned.

Something brushed past his leg; he looked down to see Dobby. "Hey," he said, but Dobby ran past him and straight to Harry.

It was almost impossible to decipher what the elf was blabbering, but Harry somehow managed to. The message the house-elf had brought was simple: Umbridge knew about the DA, and she was on her way.

It was chaos as everyone made a mad dash for the doorway. Dante grasped Hermione's arm as she made to run, too.

"Get everyone who's still inside and go into the tunnel," he said. "I'll hold off the toad."

"We'll be trapped!" she cried.

"Take Dobby with you. Tell him to Apparate everyone to their dormitories - he can do it, trust me. Go!"

Without checking to see if she had actually listened or not, he vaulted over the crowd amassed at the exit, to get out of the room. He heard Hermione shout, "Everyone get to the tunnel!" as he closed the door behind him.

Less than a minute later, Umbridge turned the corner, with a band of Slytherins trailing at her heels. Dante recognized Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle particularly well.

"Hem, hem," said Umbridge. "Going somewhere, Mr. Sparda?"

"Needed the bathroom, actually," Dante said, grinning. "There's a room here that has a great collection of chamber pots."

Umbridge ran her eyes over his face. Whatever she interpreted caused her to straighten and shriek, "They're getting away! Check the corridors!"

As the Slytherins dashed off, she pulled out her wand and aimed it at Dante's chest. "Move, Sparda."

"I'm pretty sure attacking students is against regulations," said Dante, lightly.

Ropes shot out of the end of her wand. He waited until they were within arms' reach before he grabbed them and tore them to pieces.

Her eyes popped, and she shouted, "Crucio!"

Dante ducked, letting the spell explode over his head. "Boy, does someone need anger management."

"They're not nearby, professor!" shouted Draco Malfoy as he came back around the corner along with the rest of the Slytherins.

Umbridge turned back to Dante, shaking with anger. "They're in there, aren't they? MOVE, I SAID!"

Dante was nearly certain that everyone had made it out by now, but he figured a little more stalling wouldn't hurt. Besides, this was far too amusing.

"Eh..." He pretended to think about it. "No."

"Get him!" cried Umbridge.

He wasn't surprised to see the group hesitate. Neither was he surprised when the ones to finally step forward turned out to be Crabbe and Goyle. They ran headlong at him, and Dante simply kicked their feet out from under them, letting them crash to the floor.

The others simultaneously took a step back.

"Use your wands!" snapped the High Inquisitor.

"Can we use Unforgivables, professor?" crowed Crabbe.

"Just get him out of the way!"

Jets of different colors shot towards Dante, who rolled aside to avoid them. He got to his feet in one smooth movement, smiling. "Careful now, you wouldn't want to break the door and seal off the room, would you?"

Umbridge blanched as she seemed to consider whether or not that could happen. She quickly realized it didn't matter, when Dante made no further move to shield the entrance. She spoke a curt 'Stay back' and began to pace back and forth beside the portion of the wall where the door would appear. Dante watched, arms folded. There was no way that any of the DA members could still be in there. Most likely, they were safely back in their dormitories.

He had half hoped that the entrance wouldn't appear, but it did. Umbridge stepped in, closely followed by the Slytherin group. Dante entered last, sweeping his eyes over the room. Empty.

If looks could kill, the glare Umbridge gave Dante would have him turning to dust, demon or not. As it was, the boy laughed. "See?" he said. "No chamber pots, but that's just because you didn't ask for one."

Umbridge ignored him. "I need evidence..." she mumbled. "There was a group here, I'm sure of it! Just a piece of evidence..."

"What's that, professor?" cried Malfoy, pointing at a piece of parchment pinned to the wall.

Dante recognized it immediately; the room had provided Umbridge with the proof she needed. He whipped out his wand, ready to turn it to ashes, but Umbridge was already snatching it from the wall, her back to him, effectively blocking his view of it.

She gave a cry of delight. "Ah, here it is!" she said. She held the list in front of her eyes. "Dumbledore's Army," she read. "Potter, Weasley, Granger... this would do, this would do nicely indeed! Come, Mr. Malfoy! We are going to the Headmaster's office!"

Dante hadn't really thought about who the traitor could have been, but he was a little surprised when it turned out to be Cho Chang's friend, Marietta. Considering the fact that Hermione had told everyone what betraying them would result in, he hadn't expected the Ravenclaw to risk getting her face covered in pustules.

He was fully prepared to take the blame entirely on himself; after all, he was a Dumbledore, too, so the group name 'Dumbledore's Army' could have easily referred to him - but his great-uncle confessed before he could.

"He's lying!" Dante told Fudge, shocked. "He didn't know-"

"Keep quiet, Mr. Sparda," McGonagall said sternly. Fudge completely ignored him; he seemed exulted at having a chance to put Albus Dumbledore in Azkaban. It didn't go the way the Minister had hoped, though, as despite declaring himself guilty, Dumbledore apparantly had no intention of serving time.

As the Headmaster's aspiring apprehenders lay unconscious on the floor, the old wizard hurried over to Dante and grasped his shoulder urgently.

"Should you find the last item," he said, "Do not do anything before informing me."

"Why all this?" Dante asked, nonplussed. "I could've said it was my idea - they can't expel me after all-"

"They wouldn't have let you get away with what they presumed was war on the Minister himself," Dumbledore said grimly. "They would have rather shut down Hogwarts."

Fawkes appeared behind him in a burst of golden light, carrying a large packet. Dante hadn't even noticed when the bird had disappeared. Dumbledore took the packet from its talons and offered it to Dante.

Confused at first, Dante realized what it was when he felt fabric inside. "Sure you don't need it?"

"Harry needs it more," Dumbledore replied simply. With a swirl of his robes, he turned towards Fawkes. The bird offered him its tail.

"Wait," Dante remembered something important, "How do I get in touch with you?"

"Leave a message to any of the members of the Order," Dumbledore told him, just before he disappeared in a flare of red and gold.

Dante tucked the package into a fold of his robes. Feeling distant from his surroundings, he watched the Stunned people getting to their feet and raise a commotion about Dumbledore's disappearance. Two of them ran to the stairs to find Dumbledore. Umbridge followed them, but paused in the doorway and looked at Dante.

"Starting tomorrow, you report to my office every evening for your detention, Sparda."

"No, thanks," he said, supremely unconcerned.

"Do you want to see Miss Lovegood expelled, boy? Dumbledore isn't here to get you off the hook this time!"

Dante remembered what Dumbledore had used to thwart her. "If you expel her, I may just decide to leave, too."

"Will you?" said Umbridge, smiling viciously. "Shall we test that?"

He was no Albus Dumbledore, after all, Dante realized with a tinge of bitterness. Even if Dumbledore had been bluffing, no one would have dared call him out on it.

He always had been terrible at gambling.

Without answering, he pushed past the pink-clad woman and headed for the staircase, trying to ignore her triumphant smirk. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of McGonagall's face. The Deputy Headmistress - or was she the Headmistress now? - looked defeated.

* * *

 **Reviews are love!**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and/or favorited.**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

"Here's your cloak," said Dante, handing the packet to Harry. "If I were you, I'd keep it at the bottom of my trunk. Umbridge's been nosing about enough even before Uncle Albus left."

The bespectacled boy crouched beside his bed to stow away the packet.

"I'd bet anything Umbridge's passing a Decree declaring she's the Headmistress," Ron said sulkily.

"Yeah," Harry sounded vicious, "We'll see how long she lasts."

"Maybe the rest of the year," said Dante. "The DADA jinx should come out to play soon."

"Far too long, that," chimed in Neville. "What's that, Harry?"

He was gazing at a badly wrapped package sitting on Harry's bed, along with some other belongings that he had pulled out of the trunk to reach the bottom. Dante reached over to pick it up; it was the size of a book, but didn't feel like one.

"Christmas present," said Harry, snatching it from Dante's hands and ignoring his questioning look.

"Yeah?" said Ron, frowning. "How come you haven't opened it yet? Can't be worse than Hermione's lesson planner!"

"Padfoot said to use it if I need him," said Harry. "But I'm not going to use it."

"Good plan of action," Dante nodded. "He's about as reckless as me - and he can't afford to be."

"And you can?" Harry's tone was indignant, confrontational. "Just landed yourself in three months' worth of detention, didn't you?"

It was Dante's turn to frown. "So?" he said. "It doesn't have much of an effect on me, anyway."

"I give it two weeks before you start sleeping in Snape's class again," said Harry.

Dante flushed slightly. "That was once!" he protested. "Besides, detention's the worst thing Umbridge can do when it comes to me, and now that she's done it - well... leaves me free to do anything I want."

"I wish you'd just slice off her head and be done with it," said Dean from behind his curtains.

"Yeah, we'll help you hide the body," Ron grinned. "Toss it to some Blast-Ended Skrewts."

Dante laughed in response. "Makes me wish she'd turn into a demon or something," he said. "That's one human-turned-demon I wouldn't mind finishing off."

"One can hope," said Dean, wistfully.

* * *

By morning, pretty much everyone knew about the fact that Dumbledore had left the school after taking on and defeating four Ministry workers, including Umbridge. The latter had wasted no time in making herself Headmistress, but according to Ernie MacMillan, couldn't even get into the Head's office.

As they walked back from Herbology, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle came up to them and proceeded to flaunt their new status as members of the 'Inquisitorial Squad'.

"The what?" said Hermione.

"A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge," Malfoy drawled. "Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad have the power to dock points . . . so, Sparda, five points off for being a half-breed. Another five because I don't like you, Potter. Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so five for that, and oh, I forgot, you're a Mud-"

Malfoy yelped as a wand was suddenly pointed between his eyes. "Trust me," said Dante, "You do not want to finish that word."

"Put that away, Sparda," said Malfoy, taking a step back and pulling out his own wand. "Do you want me to dock you another fifty points?"

"I'd like to see you try," said Dante, ignoring Hermione as she tried to push his arm down. "I've been kind of in a bad mood since last night, Draco. I'd love the opportunity to take it out on someone."

Crabbe and Goyle raised their wands. Simultaneously, Harry, Ron and Ernie drew their own.

"Don't get involved," said Dante, without taking his eyes off Malfoy.

"Wise move," said Malfoy, smirking. "Attacking members of the Inquisitorial Squad can get you expelled, you know. But I'm feeling generous, so all I'll do is take a hundred po-"

There was a loud bang, and Malfoy was replaced by a small, white ferret. Before Crabbe and Goyle could retaliate, they toppled over, courtesy of spells from Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ernie.

Dante knelt and picked up the ferret, dangling him in front of his face. "Well, isn't he cute? I can just 'eat' him! Or maybe Fang can."

"Oh my," breathed Hermione. "You shouldn't have, Tony, you really shouldn't have!"

"I'm past caring," said Dante. "Listen, Draco. Run off and tell Umbridge, and this furry little problem might just be the least of your worries."

He set the ferret down on the floor and flicked his wand, turning him back to normal.

"I'll kill you," snarled Malfoy, his face beet red with humiliation. "I swear, Sparda! You'll be dead before the year's over!"

"Get in line," Dante said, shrugging. "Pretty long queue, though, gotta warn you. Full of pretty important people, too, like Mundus, and my brother, and Voldemort..."

Malfoy flinched. "You think you're so tough, Sparda," he hissed when he got his voice back. "But you're nothing. Dumbledore's gone, how long do you think you're going to last? The Ministry's not too keen on part-humans, you know - I give you ten days before you get kicked out."

The blonde turned to Crabbe and Goyle and muttered the counter-spells. The three of them hurried up the stairs.

"Doesn't know much, does he?" Dante said to Ron, who grinned.

"They're going to tell Umbridge," said Hermione, her face pale. "Oh, we'll be in so much trouble!"

"Draco's going to be too furious with me to remember that you knocked out his goons," said Dante. "And there's no more ways for Umbridge to discipline me."

* * *

It seemed Dante wasn't the only one who didn't care about getting into trouble; Fred and George were finally unleashing their ingenious products on the school. In the afternoon, they set off an enormous crate of fireworks, which flew all over Hogwarts, disrupting classes, destroying school property and creating chaos in general. As a result, Dante's first detention was canceled, and he decided to take a leisurely stroll to Hagrid's hut after dinner.

He was halfway through the Entrance Hall when he heard a rattling noise behind him. Whirling around, he found himself staring at a cabinet nestled in the crook between the left side of the staircase and the wall.

"What the...?" He could've sworn it hadn't been there when he'd come out of the Great Hall.

The cabinet shook again, and Dante raised his wand. "Alohomora."

The doors were flung open, and out stepped something Dante recognized immediately - it was his demon form.

"A Doppelganger?" Dante felt amused. "Where'd you come from?"

In response, the thing raised its hand, displaying an object it was holding. All rational thought fled his brain.

The object was a severed head. Bushy hair matted with blood hung off it, framing a face that he knew too well. Brown eyes were hidden behind closed eyelids, scrunched as if she had been in terrible pain when she-

No! She couldn't be...!

Dante closed his eyes, shaking his head once, sure this had to be some sort of nightmare. But when he opened them, the demon was still there, grinning at him, the head held in its palm.

"No..." He hardly recognized the feeble voice that emerged.

"It's no use denying it," said the demon, in what he recognized to be his own voice in his triggered form. "This is us. This is who we will be."

Dante raised his eyes slowly from the head to the one holding it. His fists clenched at his sides.

"If this is my future..." he murmured. Then his voice raised, until it was nearly a shout, "Then I'll make sure I have none!"

In a flash, Rebellion was in his hand. Another flash, and both the demon and the heads vanished in a puff of smoke.

Dante sank to his knees, his hands rising to cover his face. He had to go to the Gryffindor common room, had to check - but he felt too afraid to. What if...?

A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up. It was Harry.

But something was wrong.

Harry's face was twisted into a grimace of pain. Dante stood up, staring wordlessly at the sword sticking through the other boy's chest - Rebellion.

"Dante..." Harry gasped. "Why?"

Through the overwhelming horror that was consuming him, a tiny voice in his head spoke up. He was definitely missing something here, it said. But what?

The sword, Dante realized with a jolt. Rebellion was still with him - he had just used it to get rid of his demon form holding Hermione's head. It had gone, and this one had taken its place... yet another of his friends seemingly dead by his hands, yet another manifestation of his worst fear. Then that meant this thing in front of him was...

"Riddikulus!" he said, pointing his wand at it, which shook so badly he was barely able to hold onto it.

 _Crack._

Ron took Harry's place, agonized blue eyes staring at him accusingly.

With a snarl, Dante waved his wand wordlessly, casting the Vanishing Spell. Ron disappeared immediately, but Dante didn't lower his guard. He turned in a circle, wand raised, ready for more of these visions embodying his worst nightmares...

When he found Hermione, Harry and Ron standing near the entrance, he automatically braced himself. However, moments passed and they still remained whole and unharmed. Hermione stepped forward, her eyes brimming with tears.

"It's alright, Tony," she said quietly. "It was just a boggart."

Dante nodded once, not trusting himself to speak just yet: content to drink in the sight of her alive and well. When her face blurred and his eyesight grew hazy, Dante looked away, heat blossoming in his cheeks.

"Talk about having skeletons in your closet," he mumbled.

"You're a piece of work," came Ron's voice, sounding awed. "That was your sword, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," said Dante, looking back at the redhead.

Ron shook his head in something akin to amazement. "Blimey... Only you would be scared of, well, you. Well, not you - you know what I mean, don't you?"

Dante laughed a little shakily. "Yeah."

"Who put that thing here?" Harry said in a low voice.

"Malfoy," said Ron. "Must be. He'd think it was a laugh..."

Hermione shared a meaningful look with Dante. The latter stretched his senses, searching. He didn't have to search long; he could hear three sets of breathing behind a suit of armor.

"You," he said, his voice trembling in suppressed rage, "have ten seconds to run."

They didn't have to be told twice. Malfoy scampered off, on his heels Crabbe and Goyle. Dante watched them until they disappeared down the stairs to the dungeons.

"Eight seconds," he said.

"You shouldn't have let them get away," said Harry, staring after the Slytherin trio.

"I didn't trust myself not to do some serious damage," said Dante, coldly. "Anyway, I was just going to visit Hagrid. Want to come?"

"Sure," said Harry.

"I'm not sure all four of us will fit under the Cloak," Hermione said anxiously.

"I don't want it," Dante told her. "Let Umbridge see me. I don't give a damn."

* * *

The first time Dante had seen Hagrid, the half-giant had come to him to deliver his Hogwarts letter. At that time, he had been working as the Keeper of Keys and Grounds. During Dante's absence, Hagrid had become the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures. The man had an almost unhealthy obsession with dangerous animals when Dante had been in his first year, and from what he had seen since he had come back, the enthusiasm still remained. Or at least, that was the only explanation he could conjure for the fact that Hagrid kept showing up to classes with injuries.

So it did not come as a surprise that Hagrid was sporting ugly bruises and a huge black eye when he opened the door.

"Tony!" he said, and he sounded so relieved that it took Dante aback. "Yer righ' on time. Was just wonderin' how ter get yeh down here. None of yer friends 'round?"

"Why?" Dante said suspiciously. He heard three sets of feet shuffling behind him.

"No matter, no matter..." Hagrid didn't seem to be listening to him as he looked around. "Yeh wouldn't mind takin' a trip ter the Forest, Tony?"

Dante grinned. "Nope. Could use the exercise."

Hagrid beamed - or at least as much as he could when he looked so exhausted. There were more lines on his forehead, heavy bags under his eyes. "Lemme just settle Fang. Be righ' with yeh."

He disappeared inside.

"No tea?" Dante shook his head once. "Would've thought his manners would improve after becoming a professor. You guys still there?"

"What d'you think he's keeping there this time?" said Ron, from right behind him. "A demon?"

"Oh, Hagrid can't be that unreasonable!" said Hermione. "Still, I think we ought to show ourselves to him - if he doesn't want us to go, we probably shouldn't."

"Yeah," said Ron, fervently. "I'd hate to see what type of things he thinks are too dangerous for us..."

"Maybe it's what's been causing him all those injuries," Harry said suddenly. "I've seen him walking out of the Forest in the morning-"

Hagrid exited his hut at that moment, and Harry fell silent.

"Yeh three here?" said the half-giant, peering into the darkness. "I heard voices."

"Yes," said Hermione, as the top of her head emerged from beneath the cloak.

Hagrid waved his hands anxiously. "No, no!" he said. "Don' come out, now... stay under tha'. Anyone could be watchin'..."

Hermione's head vanished.

"Glad yer all here," said Hagrid. "He should know yeh... all o' yeh... in case summat happens ter me... Dumbledore's gone... no tellin' when I'll have ter go, too..."

He led the way through the forest. The other four followed silently, for what seemed like hours of walking through the trees. As they went deeper, the number of animals seemed to dwindle, until the forest became eerily quiet.

Then they came to a clearing, where a giant was sleeping on the ground.

Dante eyed him curiously. "How'd you get him?"

Hagrid looked heartened at Dante's acceptance of the situation. Clearly, he couldn't hear Hermione hyperventilating. Nor, apparently, Ron's mutterings of 'mental... absolutely mental...'

"Found 'im in the giant colony," said Hagrid. "They were all bullying 'im, Tony... he's jus' sixteen foot..."

Dante suppressed a laugh. "Pretty small," he said, grinning. "Well, it was nice of you, but what made you think he'd want to leave his clan? Doesn't seem as if he likes you, either, seeing as how much he likes to beat you up-"

"I had no choice, Tony!" Hagrid wrung his hands agitatedly. "See, he's my brother!"

"Ah." Dante snapped his mouth shut. After a moment, he said, "Huh. Brother, huh? That explains the hitting. So typical..."

"Brothers don't roughhouse that much!" Ron said faintly.

Dante waved him off. "You won't understand, you and your ridiculously amiable siblings... wait," he looked up at Hagrid. "How come you don't rough him up?"

"I wouldn't hurt 'im!" Hagrid looked shocked. "He don' know his strength, tha's all-"

"Really? You don't sound like a big brother at all," Dante mused. "You are older than him, right?"

Hagrid nodded. "Half-brother," he added, after a pause. "My ma was a giant, see - after she left dad an' me she took up with another giant an' had Grawp."

"Huh." Dante didn't know who Hagrid's mother was, but she definitely didn't sound like someone one would like to have as a mother. "So," he nodded towards the sleeping giant. "How do we wake him?"

"Wake him?" Hermione said shrilly. "Why - why on earth would we...?"

But Hagrid was already walking towards Grawp. "Take off the cloak, yeh three," he said. "I'll jus' introduce yeh... be careful, though, he was in a bad mood tonigh' when I left 'im-"

There was a shaky exhale to the left of Dante, and then the cloak was thrown off and Harry first, followed by Ron and Hermione, came into view, pale as the moonlight.

"Good," said Hagrid, and he gave them a reassuring smile. Picking a bough off the ground, he proceeded to give Grawp a hard poke in the middle of his back.

The giant roared as he rose to his feet. Dante waved at him. "Hey!" he called. "Hey, big guy! How's it going?"

Grawp turned his head slightly, disinterestedly. Encouraged, Hagrid hurried over to Dante. "This is a friend, Grawpy! His name is Tony. He migh' come to visit yeh if I 'ave ter go away, understand? An'-" he turned to Hermione, Harry and Ron, introducing them one by one. To Hermione, he said, "Yeh wouldn' mind if he called yeh Hermy, Hermione?"

"No," squeaked Hermione. "Of course not."

When these introductions were taking place, Dante had advanced towards Grawp until he was only about six feet from the creature. It was at this point when the giant finally took full notice of him; his great head lowered, and he squinted his eyes to see Dante better. The boy took another step forward.

"Hey, see me?" he said, waving again.

"Now, don' get so close!" Hagrid called. "He don' know 'is strength..."

"Sounds like you don't know mine," said Dante, chuckling. "If-"

His words trailed off sharply. Grawp had just taken a swing at him, and he jumped up, landing on the palm. The giant's fist closed, and Dante was forced to shift to his forearm. It was more than half a foot wide; good enough to stand comfortably.

Grawp lifted him up to his face, watching him curiously.

"Put 'im down, Grawpy!" Hagrid yelled, sounding alarmed.

"Lay off, will you? We're getting acquainted!" Dante shouted back. "Caught my name?" he said to Grawp, waving. His face was only about a foot from the eyes. "It's Tony," he pointed at himself with a thumb, and then reversed it back towards Grawp. "What's yours?"

"Tony!" Hagrid yelled. "Don' poin' ter his eyes, he'll think yer gonna-"

With a roar, Grawp batted at Dante with his other hand. Dante back-flipped, landing in a crouch on the ground. "Rude," he said. "Hagrid, didn't you teach him manners?"

Hagrid flushed. "Sorry," he said. "Giants aren' very friendly, yeh see."

Dante laughed, clapping him on the arm. "Kidding!" he said. "He's fine. Hey, fathead!" He advanced towards Grawp again. "C'mon, don't be shy!"

But it seemed Grawp's mood had worsened. He turned to a pine tree beside him, and with one great tug, pulled it up by the roots. Scrutinizing it for a moment, he grabbed it with both hands and brought it down towards the ground, right where Dante was standing.

Hermione screamed, and Harry whipped out his wand, but the tree stopped before it reached the half-demon's head. Growling deep in his throat, Grawp peered down at Dante, who had raised his arms to grip the tree trunk and stop its descent.

"Newsflash, fathead," he said, smiling. "I'm tougher than I look."

"BAD BOY!" yelled Hagrid. "BAD GRAWPY! YEH DON'-"

He was interrupted when Grawp tried to backhand Hagrid across the face; Dante stopped the giant by grabbing at his wrist, bringing the limb's swing to an abrupt halt.

Hagrid stared at Dante, his jaw hanging open, as Grawp tried to tug himself free with all his strength and still failed. "Er..." he said, "Yeh can let 'im go now..."

Dante shrugged one shoulder. "Alright," he allowed. "But you might wanna take a step back."

When he let go this time, Grawp didn't attack; he merely stared at Dante with eyes noticeably wider than they had been before.

Again, Dante jabbed a thumb towards his own chest. "My name's Tony. Toh-nee." He pointed towards Grawp's chest. "What's yours? Is it Grawp?"

The giant looked down at the finger and followed its direction to his chest; then he threw his head back and roared, "Grawwwwff!"

"Well done!" cried Hagrid, looking so happy it seemed as though he might burst into tears. "Well done, Grawpy! Well, I think tha's enough fer tonigh'."

* * *

"That," said Ron, "Was bloody brilliant."

Settling into the armchair closest to the fireplace, Dante grinned smugly. The common room was empty except for the four of them - it was quite late.

"I knew you were fast," said Harry. "But the strength didn't really show when you were fighting Vergil."

"That's because they're even. Sparda's strength and speed were legendary," Hermione said promptly. She shook her head. "I can't believe Hagrid! What made him think that - giants in the forest! This close to a school! And now he wants us to -"

"Teach him English, yeah," said Harry.

"If it comes down to that," Dante stifled a yawn, "We can give it a shot. But who says Hagrid will have to go?"

"Of course he'll have to go!" Hermione snapped. "I mean - the way he acts - after what we've seen - "

"But Umbridge doesn't know about that," Ron reminded her. "By the way, Tony, what about your demon friend? Seemed to me you brought him to Hogwarts pretty fast - he doesn't live in the forest too, does he?"

"No," said Harry. "He lives in the castle."

Hermione and Dante exchanged surprised glances. "How do you figure?" said Dante.

"I knew, soon as I saw that Patronus," said Harry. "Every animagus I've seen have their animal forms as Patronus. It wasn't hard."

"Wait, what?" Ron stared at Dante. "You were the demon? The one that shoots lightning? Blimey... what's stopping you from just finishing off You-Know-Who?"

"The horcruxes," said Hermione.

"Right," said Harry. "There's only two left, though."

"Well..." Dante said slowly. "I kinda destroyed one over the holidays." At seeing his friends' flabbergasted and indignant expressions, he hurriedly explained to them how he had done it.

"Trish's looking for the last one," he said when he had finished. "I guess so is Uncle Albus."

"Has he given you a way to contact him?" Hermione asked.

"Sort of... nothing as concrete as what Sirius gave Harry."

Harry shot Dante a very dirty look.

"He gave me something before I came to school, but I haven't checked yet," he said to Hermione.

"Then let's do it now!" Hermione said at once.

Harry trudged off to the dormitory, looking very annoyed. They all waited in silence until he brought it back, the package already unwrapped. In sharp contrast to his previous reluctance, his face was almost glowing in eagerness.

"It's a mirror," he said. "I reckon if I call Sirius, he'll answer... it's like a phone, you don't only use it when you need it, unlike what I thought..."

He held up the mirror and said, clearly, "Sirius Black!"

They all waited. Harry seemed to be holding in his breath.

Then a very familiar face appeared in the mirror, eyes wide in alarm. "Harry?" said Sirius. "What is it?"

"I was just checking it," Harry seemed flustered now, evidently regretting his decision to call his godfather at midnight for no good reason. "It's alright, nothing's wrong, you can go back to sleep."

"It's fine," said Sirius. "How are you?"

After a brief pause, Harry started on a rant, telling Sirius all about Dumbledore's Army disbanding and Marietta's betrayal. Dante almost fell asleep halfway, so he excused himself to go up to the dormitory.

He drifted off thinking about all the people he could communicate with if he could make two mirrors like that himself. Well, even if he couldn't, he was nearly positive that Hermione could.

* * *

 **So... thoughts?**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: In my defense, my life has been a little hectic, and I'd kind of lost my muse. You be the judges on whether or not I've got it back! I feel like it's a bit rushed, but I don't think I can improve it a whole lot. It's not that it can't be improved, it's more that I can't improve it. So... yeah, here it is!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Dante frowned down at the book in his hand. "You sure about this?"

"Less and less," Snape replied dryly. "After all, your newfound incompetence may extend to an ineptitude for maintenance of possession. Heaven forbid. The school may not be able to handle another Neville Longbottom, or the world, rather."

"That's pretty harsh," Dante said absently, flipping through the pages. "He's not the one doodling all over his textbook."

"That," Snape said through gritted teeth, "is not doodling. And you would be wise 'not' to treat it as such."

"Kidding," said Dante, shutting the book between both of his palms. "Appreciate the gesture. Hermione's going to have a field day with this."

"Keep Granger's grabby hands 'off' it," snarled Snape. "The reason I'm entrusting this to you is that you are too thick-headed to understand the mechanism behind the changes I have introduced and thus cannot claim my recipes as your own."

"Ouch." Dante placed a hand over his heart. "Now that hurt."

"With your abominable performance in the last quizzes before this holiday, what were you expecting? Your last concoction nearly rivaled Potter's..."

Dante rolled his eyes, but chose not to interrupt. Snape knew perfectly well why he had been performing as he had - there had been hardly any free time to get his studies done. The days had been filled with classes, and the detentions began after dinner and ended just before midnight, after which he could barely open his book without his eyes starting to droop.

But it was the Easter Holidays now; the last and about the only chance for him to prepare for OWLs. Despite telling Aberforth that he had no need of good grades, watching everyone else excitedly talking about different types of careers had made him think. Demon hunting would always be his main occupation, of course, but it wouldn't exactly hurt to get paid for it.

Everyone else in their year had already been through their career advice session with their Heads of Houses, but Dante had asked McGonagall to give him more time to find a career that might suit him. As a result, she had scheduled his session for the first day of the holiday - today, in fact.

"Dante!"

He blinked up at Snape, who was eying him disapprovingly, his arms folded. "Yeah?"

"Something on your mind? Something important enough to tune. me. out?"

 _Oops_. Dante tried to come up with a response that would pacify Snape, but what came out of his mouth was, "You were kind of droning."

Snape looked for a moment as if he was seriously considering taking his book back. His eyes drifted to the hand clutching it, and his upper lip curled dangerously.

"Say," Dante changed the subject, "You wouldn't happen to know about which section of the Ministry handles demon invasions?"

Snape looked taken aback, enough to be snapped out of his rage. "There are no specific sections devoted to that," he said. "The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures handles dangerous beasts. However, they are trained to contain or subdue, not to kill. When a beast proves too dangerous to let live, a team of Aurors is sent."

"But hasn't there been... you know, demon attacks that wizards had to take care of? Ever?"

An ugly flush crept over Snape's cheeks. "I am not... exactly qualified to answer these questions," he said.

Dante stared at him, incredulous. "If you can't," he said, "Who can? You're close to Voldemort and-"

"Do not say the Dark Lord's name-"

"Uncle Tom, then - and you're close to Uncle Albus, and you know more about Dark stuff than anyone else in school!"

"Very flattering," Snape said coolly.

"Good, because I meant it that way," Dante answered without missing a beat.

Snape was silent for a few moments, looking contemplative. "Demons are certainly classified as Dark Creatures," he said finally. "Judging by this, I would say that Aurors are the ones most equipped to handle them. While the Ministry isn't very keen to admit that there are creatures they cannot, shall we say, deal with - and while they are not exactly known for preparing for the worst outcome - " Dante thought that was a bit of an understatement, "They do give their best forces the highest training they are capable of. And their best forces are definitely the Aurors, which is why the Ministry sends them to deal with the most grievous threats."

"But don't Aurors usually -"

"Catch Dark wizards, yes."

Dante groaned. "Pass."

"Why?" said Snape, his eyes suddenly sharp. "Only because you cannot stomach the thought of fighting humans?"

"It's not that simple," Dante said immediately.

"It certainly is," Snape's tone was nothing short of derisive now. "By choosing to stay your hand when it comes to humans, you will be allowing criminals to slip through-"

"Wizards never interfere in Muggle society!" Frustration was building up in him. "A wizard can catch hundreds of criminals, but you people never-"

"There are too few of us," Snape countered, "We will only be causing general chaos."

"Yeah? How many of 'me' are there?" Dante scoffed. "I'll have my hands full with demons, thanks."

"If what you say is true, then your schedule will be full and you will never have to deal with Dark Wizards."

"Since when is the Ministry sensible enough for that? Say I become an Auror, with a vague job description like that- what's to say they won't just ignore the demons and tell me to go after wizards?"

To his astonishment, Snape's lips curved slightly into a strange sort of smile. There was mirth there, certainly, but it seemed to be of the vicious variety.

"What?" Dante demanded.

"They fear you."

Surely he couldn't have heard that right. "They're making me slice my arm open every night-"

"That... woman... does not represent the ministry," said Snape. "She does not quite understand the extent to which their image depends on you. There was a reason you were never barred from using magic - they do not want you as an enemy. They know of your sensitivity, of course, you wear your heart on your sleeve-" Snape's expression communicated his disgust at that prospect, "But that is also why they know that you hold to some fixed principles, that there are some lines they cannot cross."

"So you're saying I should join the Aurors and pray that the Department Head doesn't turn out to be some sort of control freak-"

"Oh? Have you learned to actually follow orders, now?"

Dante stared at him for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. "Let me get this straight: you're actually telling me to walk out the second something doesn't go my way?"

"Quick as ever, Dante," said Snape, smirking. "That may even have been a shade quicker than it would have taken Vincent Crabbe-"

"Gee, thanks-"

"Although you would be hard pressed to find a job that requires higher grades than the Aurors," Snape finished.

Dante winced slightly. "You get that I'll probably be able to put in less than a quarter of the preparation time others are doing, right?"

"You have nothing to lose by aiming high," Snape answered calmly. "You will need five N.E.W.T.s, and thus five O. with grades no less than 'Exceeds Expectations', although you might be able to persuade Professor Flitwick or Hagrid, should it come to it, to let you in with an 'Acceptable'."

"Hagrid, probably, then. Charms isn't really my strong suit, and I don't exactly have a lot of time for practice-"

"You must pass Charms," Snape cut him off. "They specifically ask for a N.E.W.T in that subject, along with Transfiguration, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Don't ask for much, do they?" Dante said dryly, and Snape gave a very slight, wry smile.

"Should you achieve an 'Acceptable' in your Charms examination," he said, "I shall speak to Professor Flitwick and let him know of your... unusual circumstances. But I must warn you: any less than an 'O' in Potions and you will not be accepted into my class."

Dante accepted this with a little mock salute. "I guess that takes care of my career consultation."

"Indeed," said Snape, his eyebrows quirked slightly in amusement. "Perhaps this has been for the best. Professor Umbridge will, no doubt, be monitoring your official career advice session. Make it brief. I shall let Minerva know what we have discussed."

Dante gave him another salute, this one more genuine. Snape waved it away. "There is something else we must speak of," he said. "I was instructed to give a message to you."

"Yeah?"

"Your suspicion about the happenings at the Ministry was correct." Snape was carefully watching him for any reaction. "Do not, under any circumstances, let the object fall into the wrong hands."

Dante had barely swallowed down the first statement when the latter one completely threw him for a loop. What did the cloak have to do with a hell gate opening at the Ministry? Or were they just... disconnected messages?

He told none of this to Snape. Dumbledore clearly hadn't, and there had to have been a reason for that.

"Thanks," he said instead.

Snape was looking very resentful. But to his credit, he refrained from asking anything.

* * *

Hermione was tapping her wand against her palm as she gazed down at the chart she had drawn on the parchment. "How much sleep do you need to function well?"

"Three hours," said Dante. "I can go without for weeks if I have to, but I'm not 'that' committed to getting a job."

She bit her lip in concentration. Dante went back to playing Exploding Snap with Trish, ignoring the dark glares from Harry and Ron, who were trying to focus on their revisions.

"I don't know why you bother," said Trish, her shoulders shaking with laughter as Dante yet again managed to lose spectacularly.

"Hey, you never know," Dante shrugged. "Done yet, Hermione?"

"I think so," she said, handing him the chart. "Here you go. I've given you four hours for sleep, just to be on the safe side. Your time slots are similar to mine, of course, because I have all the courses you do... we can help each other."

"You mean you'll help him," said Trish, smirking.

Hermione glared at her. "Instead of wasting his time, yes."

Trish looked taken aback. Dante quickly stepped in. "You've given a lot of time to Charms and Runes," he said to Hermione.

"Because you need to improve at Charms, and you need to maintain your Ancient Runes grade," Hermione said promptly. "You've never gotten less than an 'E' in Runes tests. I'd hate for the first one to be your OWL result."

"Guess I'd hate that, too." Dante scratched at his nose. "When do we start?"

In lieu of a verbal response, Hermione pushed the Ancient Runes textbook at him. With an exaggerated sigh, Dante gave Trish a little wave and went to sit next to Hermione. _Good-bye, fun_ , he thought with despair.

* * *

It was almost a relief when the holidays ended, and with it, Dante's OWL preparations. As classes resumed, so did his full schedule, as well as detentions, and studying became almost a foreign activity.

Before he knew it, June had arrived, and with it, the examinations.

"Looks like Mundus is going to wait until I've sat through my tests after all," Dante told Harry wryly, as they waited in line to enter the Great Hall for the first OWL: Charms. "He's almost as polite as Uncle Tom."

Harry laughed. Hermione shot them a dirty look as she disappeared behind her notes again. Taking the cue, Harry shoved 'Achievements in Charms' into Dante's hands. "Here, quiz me."

On the whole, Dante thought his exam went better than expected. He had botched a few questions, but overall his grasp on Charms theory was not bad - it was the practical test that he dreaded.

The practical part of his exam started out as bad as he had imagined - his color changing charm caused the plastic ball in front of him to explode, spraying plastic everywhere and grazing his examiner on the cheek.

After that disaster, however, he resigned himself to nothing short of a fail grade, and it was that, more than anything, that calmed him down enough to get more than half of the next charms right.

He was even daring to hope that, with his performance in the theory exam, he might actually pass, when the professor said to him, "Is there any charm, beyond your syllabus, that you can do, Mr. Sparda? It just might notch up your grade," and he winked.

Dante lifted his wand, looked out the window and imagined himself in his Animagus form, flying over the grounds.

"Expecto Patronum!"

The huge griffin burst out of the tip, drawing a few shrieks. It circled the room a few times and flew out the window.

"Excellent!" said the examiner, smiling. "Well, that is certainly worth a few points. You may go, Mr. Sparda."

Transfiguration OWL went as well as could be expected, which was very well indeed, and Herbology, which went rather poorly. Hermione, after listening to an overview of his performance, told him that he might just have passed, but Dante didn't care either way - he could think of nothing in his field that required a lot of Herbology knowledge.

On Thursday they had DADA, and this caused a bit of mayhem. The examiners had chosen to put a boggart in the practical examination, and screams rang through the hall when - of all people - Albus Dumbledore's body appeared on the floor with Rebellion stuck through his chest.

"Well!" said the examiner, looking rather shaken, when Dante skipped the 'Riddikulus' and straight-up Banished the boggart. "That was certainly - quite something, Mr. Sparda. Are you all right?"

"I've seen worse," said Dante, shrugging. "First time I saw it - it was someone else then - I thought it was real."

"Indeed," said the professor - Tofty, if he remembered correctly. "I think that's all... I heard you could do a Patronus Charm, but right now this seems hardly appropriate to ask."

"Oh no, I can do it," he said, and imagined Dumbledore being back as he raised his wand and summoned his Patronus.

Not bad at all, he thought, as he walked out of the room, grinning to himself. That was three OWLs in the bag, unless he was very much mistaken.

* * *

Hermione had always said that Dante had a knack for ancient languages, and that paid off on Friday when they sat their Ancient Runes exam. Hermione emerged looking furious, and Dante tried to calm her down as she strode towards their common room.

"It was just one mistranslation, wasn't it?" he said. "That's still an 'O', last I checked-"

"'O'?" snarled Hermione. "That could be the reason I fail! You're one to talk, you didn't get it wrong - "

"Probably the one thing I didn't get wrong," he admitted. "So what, I must've gotten at least half a dozen other questions wrong-"

"Oh, shut up!" Hermione snapped at him, and Dante wisely closed his too-big mouth.

He had very little to do on the weekends, as Snape's Potions textbook was nothing short of incredible. He felt guilt churning in his stomach as he saw Harry and Ron furiously revising, but he was positive Snape wouldn't have wanted him to share.

He lasted until Saturday afternoon. After that, he thrust his book at Harry and pointed him towards the recipes he thought was most likely to come up in the practical.

"Where'd you get this?" Ron asked, bewildered. "It's changed all the recipes - "

"Works better than the textbook," said Dante. "Take a look, can't hurt."

The Potions examination went well enough that he was nearly certain that he wouldn't miss out on the NEWTs class. Harry and Ron emerged from the practical test looking pleasantly surprised.

"Actually turned the right shade," said Ron faintly. "It's never done that before."

"You have Snape to thank for it," said Dante, and watched in amusement as their faces turned different shades of pink in indignation. Quickly, he explained about the book.

"Blimey," said Ron, when he had finished. "Snape's a-"

"Genius?" Dante finished.

"Git," said Harry, and Ron nodded fervently. "If he'd just shared it with the class from the beginning-"

Dante scowled. "It's his invention, I can't exactly judge the guy for doing what he wants with his stuff."

"Easy for you to say," said Ron.

"Hey, it got us through our exams, didn't it?"

"Did he want you to share?"

"He didn't say not to," Dante defended. Well, he had, but he had only mentioned Hermione explicitly, so Dante was technically not lying.

"Oh," said Ron, deflating. "Still a git."

Harry nodded in agreement, and Dante let it go with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

Care of Magical Creatures was a disaster. Dante had had no practice on the subject before this year, and his branch of talent didn't extend to actually caring for creatures, rather than exterminating them. He felt bad, seeing Hagrid's crestfallen face, but there was nothing to be done for it.

Astronomy theory wasn't too bad, but the practical part was nothing short of terrible. It didn't matter to Dante, who felt it had been well worth it.

Umbridge's detention had ended about a half hour before the examination. Dante walked to the Astronomy tower with his right hand clutching his horribly throbbing left arm - the pain had recently been getting worse every day, even though the cuts were still healing quickly enough- but his mind was otherwise occupied.

Umbridge had seemed to be in a hurry.

Telling himself he didn't really care what the toad got up to, he reached the top and plopped himself down between Ron and Hermione. The latter gave him a worried look, and he belatedly remembered to let go of his arm.

"Are you okay?" she said anxiously.

"Fine." Dante blinked sleep from his eyes. Damn, he was exhausted.

"Only one more day," Ron said encouragingly.

"Yeah..."

He drifted off twice in the first hour, only woken by Hermione's sharp nudges, and was beginning to fall asleep again around ten minutes before the two-hour mark when a commotion started up on the grounds.

Dante started awake. All around him students were peering down towards the grounds, their star-charts forgotten. There were flashes of red flying around Hagrid's cabin far below, accompanied by Hagrid's yells, his dog's barks, and other people shouting. Dante thought he recognized a particularly short figure.

"Hagrid, be reasonable!" someone cried.

"Reasonable be damned, Dawlish," bellowed Hagrid, "Yeh won't take me like this!"

His mind made up, Dante pointed his wand at a corner of the far wall and whispered, "Expulso."

The wall exploded. The students nearest the wall screamed, and the professor hurried over to investigate. Dante took advantage of the distraction. He pocketed his wand and dived off the top of the tower, transforming in the air and swooping towards Hagrid's hut.

To his bewilderment, he saw that the red lights- Stunning Spells - were actually bouncing off Hagrid instead of actually doing any damage. However, this could not continue - there was only so much Umbridge would put up with before she actually started casting more damaging spells.

"Hagrid," he cried as he hovered over the hut, "Can you get on?"

The half-giant looked up and stared at him, nearly getting hit by two spells at once. Dante batted him out of the way.

"Who-"

There was definitely no time to explain. "Run, then!"

He landed in front of Hagrid and knocked out three of the men in one sweep. Taking the cue, Hagrid picked up Fang in his arms, cast a worried look at Dante and took off running towards the gates. Dante turned to Umbridge and smirked before he gave her a light smack upside the head, making her slump to the ground.

"Always wanted to do that," he said.

The last man - Dawlish according to Hagrid - blinked as Dante turned to face him.

"You can stay and get knocked out, or you can drag your sorry self back to the Ministry," he said. "It's your call, pal."

Dawlish looked determined at that, and lifted his wand. Dante shoved him lightly with his talons, and he dropped like a stone, hit his head on the ground, and lost consciousness immediately.

Dante stood there for a moment, surveying the damage. He doubted anyone had noticed his absence among all this fighting, and even if they did, he could excuse it as a bathroom trip or something.

When he got back, students were excitedly talking amongst themselves - the examination was over.

"I told Professor Tofty you'd gone to the loo," said Hermione to Dante. She looked savagely satisfied. "I saw what you did to that hag."

"Everyone cheered," said Ron, grinning. "Actually cheered. Tofty was pretty shocked."

"I'd have liked it if Hagrid hadn't had to go, though," said Hermione.

"She was always going to get him out," said Harry. He looked furious. "I wish you'd smashed her brains in-"

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah," Ron seconded Harry. "You really should've."

"I can't," Dante said, shaking his head. "You've got to understand-"

"We're not asking you to," said Ron, sighing.

* * *

Dante fell asleep, and stayed asleep, through the last hour of his History of Magic test. After several attempts to rouse him, professor Tofty left him alone.

He skipped lunch, choosing instead to catch up on lost sleep. He still had two weeks' worth of detention, which were once again scheduled at five in the evening.

Umbridge seemed particularly vicious today, keeping him until eleven. She would have had probably kept him all night if she had her way, but a little incident took the choice out of her hands.

At a quarter past eleven, Dante finished the swirl of his 's' and waited for the cuts to disappear for the umpteenth time - and it didn't.

"Something the matter, Mr. Sparda?" Umbridge stood up and came around. She bent to inspect the oozing cuts.

"Well," she said, smiling triumphantly, "Write over it."

Dante looked up at her in disbelief, and at that moment, felt something inside of him _snap_.

"No," he said.

Umbridge took a step back. "What?"

Dante stared into her beady eyes and felt his eyes change. They flashed at her, making her trip backward, real fear on her face. "Mr. Spar-"

With a snarl and a flash, Dante transformed into his Devil Trigger. He took a step forward, towering over Umbridge.

"I refuse to give in to your demands any longer, professor," he said. His voice came out feral, almost a hiss. "Touch me or anyone close to me again - prepare to bear the consequences."

Umbridge's eyes rolled back into her head. Dante picked up the knife and snapped it in half before he turned and left the room.

When Dante entered the common room, his housemates were in the middle of a joyous celebration. Dante maneuvered around them, trying not to draw attention to his blood-soaked sleeve. The wound had healed when he had triggered, but the oozing blood from before had stained the fabric.

"Are you alright?" it was Trish, looking concerned.

"Fine," said Dante. "I'm not going back."

She didn't ask any more questions. Instead, a smile spread over her face. "Are you up for an adventure, then?" she said. "I found the last horcrux."

* * *

 **I can safely say that the climax starts next chapter. What did you think of this chapter? Please review!**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Uh, sorry for the delay? This chapter is very short, but I couldn't help but feel like I had to end where I did. This chapter is rather precious to me, so let me know what you think of it!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Hermione argued with Dante all the way to the Entrance Hall.

"You have to wait for Professor Dumbledore's permission!" she was saying in a vehement hiss, looking around cautiously. Trish, standing a few feet in front, only raised an elegant eyebrow at her.

"I told Snape," said Dante. "And I've got the Invisibility Cloak. That way I can still keep an eye on it - and if things go to hell," he smirked to himself, "Trish can bring it back."

"Professor Dumbledore wouldn't want you to go alone, you know that!"

"I'm not _alone_ , Hermione," he said emphatically, "I've got Trish."

Hermione's expression revealed exactly what she thought of that.

"Look," Dante snapped, finally losing patience. "I trust Trish, and if that's not enough for you-"

"I'm not saying I don't trust her!" Hermione said, looking stung. "But she might not be enough. We should be there with you!"

"The protections will only allow one other person," Trish piped up. "I told you before."

"I'm sorry, but how exactly can you know that?" Hermione exclaimed, irritated.

"I have my sources," Trish said smugly. Dante had to admit, she definitely looked like she was enjoying this.

Hermione looked between the two of them desperately. "Please, Tony," she said, "Let's just check with Professor Dumbledore first!"

Dante softened. "Sorry," he said. "But Trish says we can't delay, so we won't. You send an owl or something, wait for Snape to hear back from Uncle Albus. But we gotta go."

Hermione's face fell. "Fine," she said. Then she fumbled for something inside her pocket, and thrust a wrapped package into Dante's hand.

"What's that then?" he asked, stuffing it inside his pocket.

"A duplicate of Harry's mirror," said Hermione. "I have the other one. You contact me if- if anything's wrong."

Dante stared at her, feeling inexplicably touched. "Thanks, Hermione. You... uh... should probably head back."

With one last anxious glance, Hermione hurried up the stairs.

* * *

The walk to the gates was spent in silence. As they reached the gate, Trish turned to offer Dante an arm.

Dante blinked at it, and then up to her. "You can apparate that far?"

"Condition of the job," Trish said lightly. "Grab on."

He hadn't expected side-along apparition to be draining. However, as they apparated, he felt a surge of dizziness.

Trish steadied him as he swayed slightly. "Still not fully healed, then?" she said knowingly.

Dante glanced at his arm. He could still see the raised red edges of the cuts he had to inflict on himself. "No," he said, "I guess not."

An unfathomable expression passed over Trish's face. Whatever it was, it looked out of place on her small face. "She'll get her just deserts."

"Yeah, she will," Dante agreed. He looked around. They were standing by the sea, at the mouth of a cave that would probably be immersed completely during high tides. "Well? Lead the way."

"The entrance should be around here," Trish said, looking around at the stones surrounding them. "It requires a blood sacrifice."

"Well, that's no go. My blood's too precious."

Trish didn't seem to appreciate the humor. "I'll use mine, then."

"I was kidding!" Dante stepped forward to run his hands over a rock. "Time for my girls to see some action." he pulled out his twin guns and fired around at the stones.

It wasn't long before he found a stone that the bullets bounced off of instead of getting embedded in. Raising Rebellion, he gripped the blade with one hand, making a long deep cut in his palm. He wiped his hand on the stone. The blood smeared across it; the entrance opened with a grating sound.

Nothing but darkness greeted them. Trish stepped through the entrance, her wand illuminated. The light shone on the surface of a vast lake. Dante could see a green light in the middle; It appeared to be coming from a small island.

"There's a boat," said Trish. "We'll have to walk a little farther."

"How excruciating," Dante said dryly. "If that's the best Uncle Tom can do..."

"It's not," Trish said calmly. "You'll see."

She pulled on an invisible chain. A moment later, a greenish chain appeared in her hand. She kept tugging on it, and a boat surfaced from the bottom of the lake. Dante stepped close to the water. As he was about to step on the boat, he saw something that made him start.

"What's with the dead pool?"

"They're called inferi," said Trish, referring to the dead bodies he had just seen underwater. "They are supposed to be guarding the horcrux."

"Aren't they going to attack?" Dante yawned. "I could do with a fight."

"Not unless you disturb the water, which I wouldn't advise." Trish sounded a little annoyed. "They're too many for even you to handle."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No!" she snapped in frustration.

Grinning, Dante sat down in the boat. Trish joined him a second later, and the boat began to move steadily forward.

Dante leaned over the edge, watching the inferi. They didn't look particularly formidable to him. There was a lot of them, but they were only human bodies, so...

"Do they have a weakness?"

Trish hesitated. "Not that I know of."

"That ought to make things interesting."

"Perhaps too interesting," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

Dante wagged a finger at her. "You've got a lot to learn, Trish. There's no such thing as 'too interesting'. By the way, why aren't we just summoning the horcrux?"

"Won't that be uninteresting?" Trish said lightly. She seemed to be back in good humor.

Dante returned her smirk with one of his own. "You've said it."

Trish got down first onto the island. Dante followed her. He could now see that the green light was coming from a stone basin set in the middle of the island. They both peered down onto it. The basin was filled with a glowing liquid.

"The potion must be drunk to reveal the locket within," said Trish.

Now that was protection, thought Dante. "What if I tip it over?"

"It won't fall," she said promptly.

Dante waved his wand to conjure a goblet. He scooped up the potion with it, and then turned it upside down.

It flowed back to the basin, every last drop.

"What's the horcrux?" he asked.

"It's a locket," said Trish.

Dante raised his hand to the surface and thought, "Accio locket!"

An inferius jumped out of the water and tried to grab at Trish, who electrocuted it. It fell back to the water.

"So they can be burned..." Dante said. He filed the information away for later.

"So, now comes the question of who drinks it," said Trish.

"There's no question," Dante said immediately. "You stay back."

Trish nodded. Dante blinked. He had expected more resistance.

She seemed to have noticed his surprise. "I knew from the start that you would insist on drinking the potion by yourself," she said. "You're stronger, older. It makes more sense."

There it was again; her tendency to always choose the logical option. Dante couldn't say it was wrong; it simply wasn't who he was.

"And if you can't continue," said Trish, "I can pick up where you left off."

Dante looked at her sharply. "No way," he said. "You're gonna make sure I finish, got it? I'm not letting Uncle Tom's defenses beat me."

"But-"

"No buts. Swear to me."

She nodded slowly. "I swear."

Satisfied, Dante lifted the filled goblet in a toast. "To health drinks," he said. Then he drained the goblet.

It tasted sweet as honey, but burned his throat going down, and when he finished, sharp pain assaulted his stomach. It was like a bad stomachache. Dante had had worse; he refilled and drank a second time. Trish watched silently.

In silence, he drank seven gobletfuls of the potion. The pain kept getting worse with every goblet, but Dante gritted his teeth and bore it. Like he had said, he wasn't letting Voldemort's spell beat him.

But by the time he had drunk the seventh, the surroundings had changed, and Eva was yelling at him to hide, and his stomach was burning.

"Mum?"

"Dante, no! Go and hide!"

"I'm not leaving you!" he cried.

A goblet was handed to him. "Dante, drink this." said a soft voice. "It'll help your mother."

He obeyed without thinking. The burning increased, and now he was hearing his mother scream, but couldn't see her.

"Mum, where are you? Are you hurt? Mum?"

The goblet was again pressed into his hands and he drank greedily, ready to do whatever it took to help Eva.

When he was done, he no longer had a perception of where he was. All he knew was that he was in terrible pain and his mother's body was lying on the ground in front of him.

"No..." he whispered softly.

"It's alright..." a girl's voice said soothingly.

"No! Mum!" he cried.

"It's okay, Dante, it'll go away." the voice said. "Why don't you drink this? This'll make it go away."

Dante blindly grasped the cup he was handed and finished every last drop. But Eva's body only appeared more focused to him now, he could see the blood staining the floor, the tears in her red coat-

"Mum, no, get up! Mum-"

"Drink this, Dante, drink this!"

He finished the drink that was given, and now he remembered where he was, he was in their house, it had just been attacked by demons, and he had been hiding, and his mother was dead, and it was his fault, Vergil had said-

"It's my fault, all my fault! Take me, kill me instead!"

A face came into view, and he saw that it was his mother, only much, much younger.

"This'll bring me back," she said.

Something was in his hands - a goblet? he was completely dry inside, dying of thirst - and something made him believe the liquid inside would only make it worse - but if it brought her back... he lifted the goblet and finished the liquid in one gulp.

At once, it all went dark. Save for a glow - there was a light shining in his eyes, and he was so, so thirsty-

"You did it, Dante!" said a voice.

He had done what? Oh, now it was starting to come back to him, they had been on a horcrux hunt, and there had been a potion, and he had drunk it all.

"Do you want water?" said the voice again. Dante looked up to see Trish's face hovering over him.

He managed a very slow nod.

"The only source of water is the lake," she said. "But the inferi..."

Dante couldn't think what could be more important than water at the moment. He forced himself forward on his hands and knees and plunged his hands into the water. He cupped his hands and brought them up, drinking quickly. It felt like a lifeline.

However, when he lowered his hands back into the water for a refill, something grasped his wrist.

Three inferi were hanging onto him. Dante tried to shake them off, but his unresponsive limbs didn't have the necessary strength.

 _They can be burned_ , he remembered. He looked back at the island. His wand was lying a few feet away. He stretched his hand out to grab it...

Only to have it snatched away.

Laughter reached his ears. Beautiful, musical laughter. He looked up to see Trish holding his wand. Her angelic face was split into a wide smile.

"You fool!" she laughed. "You're so easy!"

"Trish?" Dante whispered. This made no sense to him. "You...?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" she said. "I admitted I came to kill you! You really thought I'd betray my master? What did you have as proof that I changed my ways? One memory, that's all! The Emperor created me, you think he can't create a memory? Dumbledore never trusted me, but you...you were just dying to trust me, weren't you? I even tried to kill you, and you let me go! Back during our little spar, I knew if I could kill you, the emperor would have an easy entry. But you believed my story, you believed I lost control! I couldn't believe how lucky I got! You even swore not to tell anyone!"

"But...!" the inferi had now snagged onto his ankles and were slowly, but surely, dragging him down into the icy depths of the lake. Dante felt like his mind had frozen. This could not be happening...!

Trish bent down to his level and snatched the amulet from his neck. Dante tried to grasp it, but she sent a powerful wave of electricity through him and the hand fell back. She went on as if Dante had never spoken. "You even taught me to fight, you made me stronger! I knew Dumbledore would never leave you alone with me, so I imperio'd Marietta - I made her tell Umbridge about the DA sessions - I suggested Umbridge pass Educational Decree Twenty-Seven! My master correctly predicted that Dumbledore would take the blame, and he did!" She was smiling again, that bright smile of hers.

Eva's smile.

"You even drank the potion all by yourself!" she said. "Hermione Granger warned you against me, didn't she? I know she did. She never trusted me. But you- could you have made it any easier? So what if I am your half-sister? You of all people should've known better than to trust someone just because they may be your sibling! Now...die!"

His vision was steadily darkening. Just before his vision blackened, Dante saw Trish pick up the invisibility cloak.

And then darkness overtook him.

* * *

Trish watched Dante sink into the depths of the lake as she took the boat back across the water, covered in the invisibility cloak. She felt no regret for her actions. The fool had practically brought this on himself.

She hadn't had time to tell him that the horcrux he had done all this for had already been destroyed. It had been the locket that Mundus had first destroyed, the one she had extracted the information about the other horcruxes from.

She walked out of the cave with a lightened heart. All the pieces were falling into place.

They still had the last horcrux to take care of. But she knew her master's plan... it would sort itself out.

She didn't see the wand - Dante's wand that she had carelessly dropped on the island - being summoned underwater. Nor did she see the fire that ignited inside the lake, or the figure that rose to the surface of the lake.

The figure pulled himself back onto dry land, a fire similar to the one he had just lit reflecting in his icy blue eyes.

* * *

"Have you brought it?"

"Yes," said Trish. She handed over the amulet and the cloak to the figure that was standing with his back to her.

Vergil ran his hands over the smooth fabric. "Good."

There was a sudden flash of silver, a sound of sword ripping through flesh, and Trish cried out. She doubled over, Yamato buried up to its hilt in her stomach.

"Your form has repulsed me since the day you came to me, claiming you can show me the way to Sparda's power so that we can rule the world together," said Vergil. "But you have never been worthy of it. You have been nothing but a cheap imposter. You have no right to that face."

He pulled out the sword, letting her fall to the floor. "Now that the final element is here, I have no more use for you."

With not even a backward glance, Vergil strode through the door to the next room, deeper into the Ministry of Magic, where the Veil of Death and Voldemort awaited him.

* * *

 **So? What do you think? Reviews are love!**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: So I'm back... in the middle of final exam... but back nonetheless! This chapter is kind of necessary to get to the good stuff, but it's more of a filler, really. Let me know if you liked it, anyway!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Lord Voldemort was waiting in front of an archway situated in the middle of the room. A curtain flitted over it, as if moved by a breeze from the other side. On seeing Vergil, he smiled, a slight curve of bloodless lips.

"Have you brought it?" he said in his high, cold voice.

Vergil held up the Invisibility Cloak, but made no move to hand it over. "This is it, then," he said, "The Veil of Death."

"And only the Master of Death may put it to its true use," said Voldemort, very softly. "That is your ultimate wish, is it not?"

"Keep to your end of the bargain, and concern yourself over nothing else," said Vergil. "The ring?"

Voldemort held out his right hand. A solitaire ring sat on his middle finger. Vergil reached out to snatch it up.

"Wait."

Vergil's hand froze a foot from the ring.

"The blood."

Vergil straightened, his face unreadable. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial filled with dark red liquid.

"I confess," he said, "I haven't found any rituals of becoming a demon that uses Sparda's blood. I wonder what your source is."

Voldemort smiled again. "Nothing you need concern yourself over," he said, holding out his hand.

Vergil gazed at him for a few moments. "You're lucky I need you for the incantation, or I would wipe that smile off your face," he said. Voldemort took the vial from him and opened it, turning it upside down over his right hand. As it soaked through, it seemed to disappear. Once it had disappeared completely, he plucked the ring off his finger and offered it to Vergil, who picked it up. After a moment of observing it, he slipped it onto the index finger of his right hand.

The next moment, he fell to his knees, clutching his right hand with his left. His hand fumbled with the ring, trying to pry it off, but it held fast. Letting go of the ring, he pulled out his sword from its scabbard.

"NO!" Voldemort shouted.

But it was too late - Vergil brought the sword down onto the ring, cracking the stone from the force. Slipping the ring off his finger, he tried to stand, but fell back again.

"Well, no matter," said Voldemort, walking over to Vergil. "A small price to pay for the ultimate power. Foolish of you, to think I would be satisfied with becoming a simple demon when I could be the greatest one of all time."

He stood there for a few more minutes, ascertaining whether Vergil was sufficiently weakened. Seemingly satisfied only when Vergil finally lost consciousness, he bent down and collected the two pieces of the amulet, the Elder Wand, and the invisibility Cloak. After a moment's pause, he picked up the cracked stone from the ring as well. Turning to face the archway, he hissed something under his breath.

The curtain split in two. The two pieces fluttered down to the floor, revealing a stone walkway beyond.

"Not long now," murmured Voldemort. "And Sparda's power - will be mine!"

* * *

Dante Apparated in front of the school gates.

He was feeling extremely frustrated. He had no way of knowing where Trish had gone, and why. There was nothing for him to do except trying to contact Dumbledore through Snape in order to ask for advice. He started walking. The aftereffects of the potion had lessened to a dull stomachache. That was really nothing compared to the sting of the betrayal he had just experienced.

In retrospect, he could see that Trish hadn't ever given them a good reason to trust her. While Trish had helped them, she had said from the beginning that Mundus wanted the horcrux destroyed too, so she could have been - and now as it turned out, was - acting on her emperor's orders.

The memory of what had happened made him clench his hands into fists. If he got his hands on that good-for-nothing lunatic girl...

He stumbled over something in the dark. He looked down.

For one moment, it was as if he was back under the effects of the potion and Eva's body was on the ground in front of him. Then he realized he was wrong; it wasn't Eva. It was Trish.

She was absolutely still; blood had pooled beneath her. For one moment, Dante wondered if she was dead. But as he knelt, he could see the slow rise and fall of her chest. She was alive after all, but possibly not for long.

 _Not if I have anything to say about it_ , Dante thought grimly.

Snape had taught him the incantation to close up cuts years ago. But he hadn't ever applied it, and he didn't trust himself to perform it now. Kneeling down beside Trish, he inspected the wound. It was abnormally clean; he had seen wounds like this many times. It was Yamato's work.

She didn't have the cloak with her. She had to have handed it over already.

Why? Why was she looking for the cloak?

Pushing the thought away, Dante focused on the more immediate concern: healing Trish. Because no matter what she had done to him, he wasn't about to let her - someone with such an uncanny resemblance to Eva - die.

He picked her up and stood. It was a long walk to the infirmary- he would have to transform to get her there faster.

He went in through a window. Fortunately, the occupants of the occupied beds were asleep, and Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. Setting Trish down on an empty bed, Dante went to look for Pomfrey in her office.

She was bustling about. Head buried in one of the shelves, she said, "Just put them in the third shelf from the left, Severus. Top row."

Dante resisted the urge to laugh. He had a feeling if he started, he wouldn't be able to stop. It had been a long night. "I'm not Snape, Madam Pomfrey."

"Mr. Sparda? Good heavens! What'd you get yourself in, this time?"

"I'm fine. It's Trish. She's hurt, but please first give her the strongest sedative you've got."

She stared at him. "I don't need you to tell me how to treat my patients!" she growled. "Out of the way!"

Dante went with her, seeing no other option. On seeing Trish, Madam Pomfrey gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.

"How...?" She composed herself quickly. Stepping forward, she lifted her wand and began to chant.

As the wound began to close, Dante tensed, his hand going to his sword. And surely enough, the hole had not even closed fully before Trish began to stir.

Dante held up his hand to summon the sleeping drought. He was going to force-feed it to her, or should that fail, knock her unconscious.

Blue eyes flickered open. Dante stepped forward. Trish was staring at him with a dazed expression.

"You saved me," she said in a voice full of wonder, sitting up. "Why?"

Dante paused, his eyes hard. "You know why."

"Because I look like... Eva?"

"You don't get to mention that name," Dante snapped. "You don't even get to think it. _You may look like her but you're nowhere close to her! You have no soul. You may have the face but you'll never have her fire!"_

"Mr. Sparda!" Madam Pomfrey hissed. Dante ignored her.

He uncapped the bottle of sleeping drought, but Trish said, "Wait! There's some things you need to know."

"What?"

"Lord Voldemort has Sparda's power, if my master's plan has been executed. You have to stop him - he'll come here - you'll all be in great danger!"

"What the hell are you talking about? How will he get that power?"

Trish looked relieved that Dante was listening to her. "It's a long story," she said. "But this you need to know - Sparda had trapped most of his power into his sword- Force Edge."

Dante knew that much. "Get to the point."

"There's a hell gate at the Ministry. My master wanted it opened. I gave the invisibility cloak to Vergil, because he wanted to open the gate- "

"You had another chance to give him the cloak," said Dante. "When he came to Hogwarts. Why didn't you give it to him then?"

"My master wanted me to... to kill you and take the cloak at the same time." Trish bowed her head. "If I gave the cloak to Vergil then, you all would have found out where my loyalties lay. I wouldn't have gotten a chance to kill you."

"What is she talking about?" Madam Pomfrey whispered.

"Trish serves Mundus, the demon emperor," Dante said darkly.

She paled. "And you brought her here?"

"That's why I wanted her knocked out-" Dante began.

"She cannot stay here," Madam Pomfrey said decisively.

"I won't," Trish said desperately. "I'll leave. But right now you need to listen to me."

Dante looked back at her.

"Actually-" she continued. "Vergil needed Voldemort's help because opening the gate also required advanced magic, beyond his capabilities. My master predicted that Lord Voldemort would double-cross Vergil and take the power for his own."

"Why did you take the amulet?"

"Vergil needed it for Sparda's power. I had to make it look like I'm helping him. Voldemort won't be able to use the power properly, even with the joined amulet. If-if I killed you, and Voldemort killed Vergil, my master would have an easy entry. He knew Voldemort couldn't handle Sparda's power, so he planned to finish off Voldemort himself. That's why he needed all the horcruxes destroyed."

"And you think Voldemort will come after Harry." Dante stated.

"Don't you?"

Dante had to admit she had a point. "Where would they be now?"

"The Ministry." Trish paused for a moment. "Dante... I have to warn you... Vergil may not be alive."

He drew in a sharp breath. "Voldemort cannot kill him."

"Voldemort has been working on a curse specifically for those whose blood is given to the cursed object. He's asked for Vergil's blood and Vergil has agreed. He's been perfecting it for a while now. I... I wouldn't hope for too much."

Dante turned to leave the infirmary.

"Wait!" Trish said from behind him. "I can help!"

Dante whipped around, his sword in hand. "If you know what's good for you, get out of my sight right now!" he snarled.

Trish froze. Dante hurried out the door.

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly to Umbridge. She got to her feet even more slowly and held her head for a moment, wincing as the memories came rushing back.

How dare that brat! She would show him... she was going to report to Cornelius immediately.

She walked over to the floo grate and threw some powder in. "Ministry of Magic, Minister's Office!" she said. The fire consumed her.

She tumbled out of the fireplace rather ungracefully in her haste. She jumped to her feet, and then stumbled and nearly fell back again.

Three glowing eyes stared back at her from above Cornelius' desk. "Welcome," it said. "I assume you're Dolores Umbridge. Kneel."

Trembling from head to toe, she said, "You're-you're trespassing! This is-"

The eyes let out a booming laugh. "Trespassing, am I?" it said. "Well, you're entertaining. This world is mine, mortal. I am the Emperor, Mundus. Now, kneel."

She hesitated. Electricity crackled around the eyes, and that was enough for her. She sank to her knees.

"Now, receive your reward for weakening a son of Sparda and helping me into this world."

She smiled tentatively, hopeful. The electricity crackled louder, and by the time she realized what was going to happen, it was too late. She made a run for it. The electricity beam struck her in the back and left nothing but charred remains of bones.

Mundus laughed. "Now for the rest of this world."

* * *

Dante did not have to search for long. Vergil was lying on the doorstep of the Ministry... evidently having dragged himself as far. He bent down, lifted Vergil into his arms and Apparated back to Hogwarts, with a different destination in mind.

Snape was less than thrilled to be disturbed at this hour. He was even less amused by what Dante requested of him.

"I see no reason," he said coldly. "to keep someone alive who may have been actively trying to destroy our world."

"In that case, you don't even want to know what Trish just did," Dante said, shrugging. "Just... do what you can for him. Please." in a softer tone, he added, "If Mundus is loose, we're going to need him."

After a long moment of silence, Snape nodded.

"You do realize this will only feed the animosity between the two of you, not curb it?" he said as he walked to his supplies cabinet.

"Probably, yeah." Dante watched him. "Anything I can do?"

"No," Snape said coolly. After a short interval, he added, "Perhaps channeling some of your powers would be helpful in keeping the curse at bay."

"You mean like I charge my sword?" Dante snorted in amusement. "Well, if Vergil's discharging now... can't hurt to try."

He touched Vergil's blackened hand, trying to imagine it as his sword or his guns. He had seen Trish do it... give her energy to him. He could too, surely?

He concentrated.

Vergil's arm began to glow red. Dante felt encouraged. This was working!

He didn't know how long it had been when Snape came back and tipped a potion down Vergil's throat. With his other hand, he was holding his wand, muttering incantations.

"You can stop now," he said to Dante.

Dante broke the skin contact. "Did it work?"

Snape was pouring another potion into Vergil's mouth. "I'm giving him a sleeping draught so hopefully he won't wake up soon," he said. "Until he does, we have no way to find out. I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being, but only time will tell if his body can fight it off. If it had been a full-blooded human, he would have no chance at fighting it. But his heritage is going to work in his favor."

"Sounds like I'm done here." Dante stood. "I think Vergil's opened a hell gate in the Ministry. We can't leave it open. I'm going to see if I can close it."

"Be careful," Snape said in clipped tones. Dante nodded.

At the moment, a tremor shook the castle. Dante and Snape both looked up at the ceiling.

"You don't think...?" Dante broke off. Could Voldemort already be here?

"I'm going upstairs to see what's going on," he said to Snape.

Snape gave a sharp jerk of his head. Dante saw him reach for his wand as he himself ran to the door.

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 **Thoughts? Reviews are love!**


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